BL  263  .D2  1901 
Dadson,  A.  J. 

Evolution,  and  its  bearing 
on  religions 


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EVOLUTION,  AND  ITS  BEARING  ON  RELIGIONS 


HAECKEL'S 
PEDIGREE  OF  MAN. 


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Soft  Animals 
(Stolluscsj 


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p.- 


EVOLUTION,  AND  ITS 
BEARING  ON  RELIGIONS 


BY 


A.    J.     DADSON 


WITH  FIVE  PLATES 


NEW    YORK 

E.    P.    DUTTON    &    CO. 

1 90 1 


PRINTED   BY 

Cowan  &  Co.   Ltd. 

PERTH 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  rACB 

I.  ANCIENT  EVOLUTIONARY  THOUGHT  9 


II.  INORGANIC  FORMATION 


17 


III.  ORGANIC  FORMATION       24 

IV.  PALAEONTOLOGY       5 1 

V.  EMBRYOLOGY 72 

VI.  RUDIMENTARY  ORGANS 83 

vii.  darwin's  law 86 

viii.  the  soul            ioo 

IX.    EVOLUTION    OF   RELIGIOUS    IDEAS   -            -           -           -  115 

X.    JESUS -           -           -  139 

XI.    PRE-CHRISTIAN    CIVILISATION              ....  I4y 

.XII.    DECADENCE   OF    ROME 1 73 

XIII.    FROM    THE   RISE   OF   CHRISTIANITY  TO  CONSTANTINE  l8l 

XIV.    CONSTANTINE   THE   GREAT 1 97 

XV.    FROM    CONSTANTINE   TO   THE   CRUSADES             -           -  209 

XVI.    CRUSADES   TO    REFORMATION              •           -           -           -  228 

XVII.    MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 238 


PREFACE 


Under  the  title,  "Evolution  and  Religion,"  part 
of  this  book  was  published  in  1893.  The  chapters  on 
Evolution  have  been  revised,  to  the  extent  necessitated 
by  fresh  discovery  and  the  increased  knowledge  of  recent 
years.  The  remainder  has  been  treated  in  a  somewhat 
different  manner,  and  almost  entirely  rewritten  ;  so  that 
the  present  volume,  "  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on 
Religions,"  is  substantially  a  new  book. 

The  subject  of  Evolution  has  been  before  the  world 
for  over  two  thousand  years ;  but  it  is  only  within  the 
last  half  century  that  its  great  and  far-reaching  con- 
sequences have  been  appreciated.  The  genius  and 
labours  of  Darwin  shed  a  great  light  upon  the  mind, 
and  created  a  revolution  in  thought  upon  some  of  the 
most  momentous  and  serious  subjects.  It  is  true  that 
long  before  his  time  the  theory  of  gradual  development 
had  been  accepted  by  the  thinking  few;  but  it  was 
owing  to  his  discoveries  that  it  received  wide  public 
recognition,  and  became  incorporated  in  the  body  of 
organised  knowledge.  Other  thinkers  had  divined  the 
truth  that  the  organic,  like  the  inorganic,  has  arisen 
from  the  operation  of  an  all-embracing  mechanical  law. 
It  was  reserved  for  Darwin  to  prove  it,  by  discovering 
the  natural  law  under  the  operation  of  which  the  living 
world  in  all  its  forms  has  arisen. 

The  powerful  interests  involved  in  the  ultimate  con- 
sequences of  such  views  becoming  accepted  by  the 
public,  raised  a  violent  storm  of  opposition  which  had 
an  educational  effect  contrary  to  that  intended  and 
hoped  for  by  the  opponents  of  Evolution.  It  was  seen 
that  the  truth  of  the  theory  was  making  progress  among 
all  classes  ;  and  in  the  hope  of  saving  the  great  interests 
from   complete   wreck,  Darwin   was   appealed   to,  and 

5 


6  Preface 

asked  to  give  his  great  authority  to  the  view  that  man, 
at  least,  was  exempt  from  the  evolutionary  theory,  and 
had  been  specially  created.  Darwin's  reply  is  well 
known. 

He  could  not  regard  man's  origin  as  the  result  of 
special  creation.  He,  like  every  other  creature,  was  the 
product  of  Evolution,  and  had  arisen  through  many 
gradations  from  lower  animal  forms.  There  was,  there- 
fore, no  escaping  the  obligation  to  apply  the  law  of 
Evolution  to  man's  mental,  moral,  and  religious  progress, 
since  it  would  manifestly  be  absurd  to  credit  his  animal 
ancestors  with  these  endowments.  To  thoughtful  minds 
it  became  evident  that  this  necessitated  a  readjustment 
of  our  mental  attitude  towards  the  specific  forms  of 
religious  belief  current  among  us,  the  fruits  of  which 
are  now  seen  in  many  directions. 

Once  establish  the  truth  that  man,  as  a  part  of 
Universal  Nature,  has  been  gradually  evolved,  through 
long  ages,  from  the  lowest  forms  of  organic  life  by  the 
operation  of  the  great  mechanical  law  of  Evolution, 
which  embraces  all  things,  and  is,  in  accordance  with 
that  law,  still  progressing  to  greater  and  higher  degrees 
of  complexity  and  perfection,  and  it  is  seen  how  deep 
and  far-reaching  must  be  the  effect. 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  awaken  interest  in 
the  subject  in  the  mind  of  the  intelligent  reading  public, 
and  to  endeavour  to  show  that  every  form  of  belief 
which  is  built  upon  material  other  than  that  which  is 
supplied  by  natural  law  has  no  scientific  validity ;  and 
must  undergo  modification  from  time  to  time,  and  be 
finally  rejected  when  it  is  plainly  understood  to  contra- 
dict or  disagree  with  the  laws  of  Nature,  which  are  the 
supreme  arbiters  in  all  human  affairs.  It  is  seen  to  be, 
not  a  question  as  to  whether  or  not  we  would  continue 
the  preservation  of  forms  of  belief,  with  which  may  be 
associated  some  of  the  happiest  elements  of  our  emotional 
life,  past  and  present,  but  rather  one  over  which  we  have 
little  or  no  control ;  and,  whether  we  will  it  or  not,  that 
which  does  not  conform  to,  or  is  found  to  be  inconsistent 
with,  the  advance  of  scientific  culture  is  destined  to  fall 
out  of  regard,  and  eventually  die.     The  rationale  of  it 


Preface  7 

seems  to  be,  that  the  human  path  is  lighted  for  us,  and 
guided  by  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  in  so  far  as  we  follow 
that  light  we  tread  on  firm  ground  ;  but  the  moment  we 
abandon  that  trusty  guide  and  step  aside,  we  are  in  an 
unknown  region,  and  may  have  to  retrace  every  step  we 
take. 

History  shows  how  largely  the  human  mind  has  been 
engrossed  with  the  problem  of  its  relation  to  the  Uni- 
verse, and  it  bears  evidence  to  the  melancholy  fact  that 
all  attempts  to  solve  the  mystery  on  supernatural  lines 
have  been  rendered  untenable  by  the  advance  of 
scientific  research.  The  utterances  of  some  of  the  best 
minds  of  our  age  express  the  futility  of  continuing  to 
base  our  hopes  of  enlightenment  upon  assumptions 
which  have  no  foundation  in  the  verifiable  facts  of 
existence  ;  and  which  more  and  more  diverge  from, 
and  fall  out  of  co-ordination  with,  those  facts  as  time 
goes  on,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  orderly  course  of 
Nature  is  increased  and  strengthened  by  extended 
observation  and  new  discovery. 

All  the  explanations  of  man's  place  in  Nature  and  his 
relation  to  the  Unknown  Power,  which  are  based  on 
those  assumptions,  have  been  discredited,  and  it  is 
perhaps  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  now 
form  but  a  comparatively  small  part  of  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  thinking  part  of  the  world.  Some  of  those 
who  recognise  the  futility  of  evolving  from  the  imagina- 
tion inconsistent  and  meaningless  explanations,  never- 
theless hold  that  the  need  to  the  great  majority  of  some 
kind  of  concrete  form  of  faith  makes  it  a  duty  to  refrain 
from  criticising  it  by  the  light  of  positive  knowledge. 

In  reply  to  this,  it  may  be  urged  that  faith  is  largely 
a  matter  dependent  upon  early  teaching  and  custom  ; 
and  when  it  is  succeeded  by  reasoned  scepticism,  the 
latter  will  bring  its  own  mental  compensation  for  any 
emotional  loss  that  may  be  sustained.  Moreover,  as 
truth  has  for  us  an  indestructible  significance,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  the  ideal  goal  and  object  of  all  endeavour,  to 
follow  it  according  to  our  lights,  under  all  circumstances, 
would  appear  to  override  all  other  considerations  ;  and 
to  connive  at  its  suppression  in  the  interests  of  a  back- 


8  Preface 


ward  stage  in  progress  is  to  retard  the  advance  of  know- 
ledge, in  proportion  as  the  perpetuation  of  fallacies  is 
thereby  secured. 

If  the  only  true  light  is  that  which  is  afforded  by 
science,  and  the  verifiable  laws  of  Nature  are  the  only 
solid  foundations  on  which  we  can  build,  no  apology 
will  be  needed  for  treating  the  subject  of  religion,  in  its 
positive  forms,  by  those  rational  methods  which  alone 
we  recognise  as  permissible  in  all  other  subjects  of 
inquiry. 

Looking  back  upon  past  and  discarded  creeds,  on  the 
specific  promises  of  which  millions  of  human  beings 
founded  their  happiness  and  hopes,  we  of  a  more  en- 
lightened age  can  appreciate  the  effect  of  the  growth  of 
knowledge  in  disclosing  their  unsubstantial  and  erroneous 
character,  though  they  were  matters  of  the  deepest  im- 
port to  those  generations. 

We  have  not  reached  finality ;  indeed,  civilised  man 
is  only  yet  in  his  infancy  ;  and  as  we,  with  our  greater 
and  truer  knowledge  of  Nature,  look  back  upon  the 
beliefs  of  past  ages,  so  will  our  descendants  in  a  still 
more  enlightened  age  in  the  future  look  back  upon  those 
which  are  current  amongst  the  majority  to-day.  And 
so  probably  will  it  ever  be  in  the  ascending  scale  of 
complex  human  life.  To  eliminate  superstition  and 
supernaturalism  as  a  creed  is  one  of  the  aids,  perhaps 
the  greatest,  to  intellectual  growth  and  purity  of  mind, 
on  which  welfare  and  progress  depend.  This  is  the 
justification  for  seeking  to  rationalise  religious  belief,  by 
subjecting  it  to  the  judgment  of  reason,  which  is  the 
only  reliable  guide  given  to  man. 

ARTHUR  J.  DADSON. 

Farningham, 
Kent. 


EVOLUTION,  AND  ITS  BEARING 
ON  RELIGIONS 

CHAPTER  I 

ANCIENT    EVOLUTIONARY  THOUGHT 

ABOUT  fifty  years  ago,  the  author  of  "Vestiges  of  the 
Natural  History  of  Creation "  began  that  famous  work 
by  referring  to  the  size  of  the  earth  as  being  familiar 
knowledge.  In  like  manner  we  may  now  say,  in  regard 
to  the  age  of  the  earth,  it  is  common  knowledge  that, 
so  far  from  being  some  six  thousand  years  old,  we  must 
reckon  it  by  many  millions  at  least.  The  vast  age  of 
our  globe  few  now  dispute  ;  and  we  may  fairly  assume 
that  the  theory  of  gradual  development  is  now  accepted 
by  the  majority  of  thoughtful,  educated  people. 

The  Doctrine  of  Evolution  is  not  an  original  product 
of  modern  science ;  it  was  an  important  feature  in 
ancient  Greek  philosophy ;  and  we  meet  with  it  as  far 
back  as  460  B.C.,  in  the  writings  of  Democritus  and 
others.  Only  a  few  fragments  of  the  works  of  that 
eminent  thinker  have  come  down  to  us  ;  but  from  them 
we  learn  his  theory  of  the  Universe.  He  taught  that 
there  is  nothing  in  Nature  but  atoms  and  space.  Atoms 
are  the  ultimate  material  of  all  things,  including  all  the 
faculties  and  affections  of  mind  or  spirit  throughout  the 
animal  kingdom.  They  possess,  as  an  inseparable 
quality  of  their  nature,  motion,  which,  like  the  atoms 
themselves,  is  eternal.  Both  are  self-existent,  uncaused, 
and    have    existed    from    eternity.       The    atoms     are 

9 


io  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

invisible,  but  solid  and  impenetrable  ;  and  by  their 
infinite  combinations  all  things  are  produced — mineral, 
vegetable,  and  animal. 

Not  a  single  atom  in  the  Universe  can  be  at  rest  for 
the  smallest  fraction  of  time ;  such  a  state  would 
destroy  its  character,  which  is  eternal.  Motion  imparts 
to  the  atoms  a  tendency  to  combine  in  certain  aggre- 
gates, but  under  all  forms  of  combination  motion 
persists.  Every  state  of  existence,  organic  and  inor- 
ganic, is  the  result  of  special  concurrence  of  the  atoms, 
appropriate  to  each  state  ;  and  as  the  totality  of  Nature 
is  due  to  the  atoms,  and  their  infinite  variety  of  com- 
bination alone,  it  follows  that  what  we  call  life  and 
death  are  changes  of  form  only — distribution  and 
combination  of  the  atoms,  reproduction  and  decay ; 
and  every  organic  existence  is  continuously  passing 
through  one  or  the  other  of  these  states. 

The  condition  known  as  life  is  one  in  which  the 
atoms  are  combining  ;  that  of  death  in  which  they  are 
disuniting ;  but  in  both  conditions,  the  nature  of  the 
atoms  remains  unchanged.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
qualitative  change  ;  all  growth  and  decay  are  merely 
the  compounding  and  separating  of  atoms.  No 
organism  can  possess  any  powers  which  are  not  derived 
from  the  motion  of  the  atoms,  and  their  infinite  com- 
plexity of  structure.  It  follows  from  the  foregoing  that 
at  birth  no  new  force  can  be  brought  into  existence, 
neither  can  any  be  annihilated  at  death.  The  popular 
notions,  therefore,  which  regard  the  human  soul  as  an 
entity  are  erroneous,  since  they  presuppose  the  creation 
of  a  new  force  at  birth,  and  the  vanishing  of  that  entity 
and  force  from  the  earth  at  death.  Matter  is  a  constant 
quantity,  so  also  is  force.  Both  are  incapable  of 
diminution  or  augmentation. 

Everything  happens  from  necessity,  under  the 
pressure  of  atomic  force  ;  and  worlds,  infinite  in  number, 
are  ever  in  process  of  growth  or  decay.  By  a  me- 
chanical necessity,  everything  that  is,  is  as  it  is,  and 
could  not  be  otherwise.  Democritus  would  not  admit 
that  the  formation  of  worlds  and  all  they  contain  was  in 
any   way   due  to   reason,    and   absolutely   denied    the 


Ancient  Evolutionary  Thought  n 

necessity  for  presupposing  the  existence  of  an  ordaining 
Intelligence.  He  was,  of  course,  opposed  to  the  popular 
theology  of  his  day,  and  was  looked  upon  as  an  extreme 
sceptic,  and  reviled  accordingly.  The  theology  has 
long  since  passed  away,  but  his  philosophy  has  lived, 
and  is  bearing  fruit  to-day  in  various  departments  of 
Philosophy  and  Science.  "  The  theory  of  chemistry,  as 
it  now  exists,  essentially  includes  his  views." 

During  this  period,  and  down  to  the  time  of  the 
Christian  era,  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  Greeks  was 
very  great ;  and  in  the  monumental  works  which  those 
illustrious  thinkers  gave  to  the  world,  the  subject  of 
evolution  occupies  a  prominent  place.1  The  crude 
notions  of  the  priests  regarding  the  origin  and  constitu- 
tion of  the  Universe,  which  satisfied  the  people,  could 
not,  of  course,  find  any  favour  with  men  so  intellectually 
endowed  as  were  the  sages  of  Greece. 

The  prevailing  belief  of  the  structure  of  the  world  was 
similar  in  regard  to  magnitude  and  character  to  that 
given  by  Moses.  Man  was  surrounded  by  all  sorts  of 
invisible  agencies  and  supernatural  wonders  ;  and  his 
chief  object  in  life  was  to  protect  himself  against  their 
evil  influence.  A  few  miles  above  the  earth  was  situated 
Olympus,  the  abode  of  the  principal  god,  Zeus,  who,  sur- 
rounded by  his  inferior  gods  and  their  wives  and 
mistresses,  indulged  in  various  acts  of  human  crime  and 
passion.  The  stars  were  supposed  to  be  the  light  of 
heaven  shining  through  the  rents  in  the  floor.  The  gods 
occasionally  came  down  from  their  abodes  and  mixed 
with  the  daughters  of  men,  and  kings  and  chiefs,  in 
consequence,  claimed  celestial  descent  on  the  paternal 
side. 

This  theological  explanation  of  the  Universe  was  held 
from  time  immemorial  in  great  veneration  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
surrounding  countries.  And  great  was  the  wrath  of  the 
people,  led  by  the  theologians,  against  the  philosophers 
of  Greece  for  daring  to  question  the  religion  of  their 
forefathers.  Many  were  despoiled  of  their  goods  as  a 
punishment,  and  others  banished  or  put  to  death. 
1  See  article  on  "  Evolution  "  in  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica." 


12  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


Belief  in  such  a  system  necessarily  precluded  all 
inquiry  and  progress  among  the  people  ;  but  the  intel- 
lectual horizon  was  widening  in  all  directions  when 
Aristotle  appeared,  384  B.C.  Before  his  time  Greek 
philosophy  had  been  purely  speculative.  He  was  the 
first  to  practise  the  true  method  of  scientific  research  by 
patient  observation  of  the  facts  of  Nature  around  him. 
He  is  called  the  founder  of  the  Inductive  method.  He 
accepted  the  Evolutionary  theory  in  principle,  and  by 
his  labours  in  every  known  field  of  inquiry,  he  collected 
an  immense  number  of  facts  bearing  upon  and  support- 
ing the  Theory  of  Universal  Development.  Dr.  Draper1 
truly  says  all  the  modern  advances  in  science  are  due  to 
the  Inductive  philosophy  established  by  Aristotle.  For 
his  fundamental  views  of  Nature,  Aristotle  was  greatly 
indebted  to  Democritus,  and  invariably  speaks  of  him 
with  great  respect. 

The  idea  of  the  organic  arising  from  the  inorganic  was 
familiar  to  him.  In  his  treatise  "On  the  Parts  of 
Animals,"  he  explains  the  distinction  between  tissues 
and  organs,  and  shows  how  the  latter  are  built  up  from 
the  former,  and  the  former  from  the  simple  elements, 
heat,  etc.  "  Out  of  the  elements  are  formed  the  homo- 
geneous substances  or  tissues  ;  out  of  these  are  formed 
the  organs ;  out  of  the  organs  the  organised  being." 
Next  he  treats  of  the  soul  or  "  vital  principle,"  which  he 
asserts  to  be  common  to  all  living  beings,  including  man. 
And  even  what  we  call  inanimate  nature  is  endowed  with 
the  same  principle.  The  soul  is  not  a  separate  entity, 
dwelling  in  the  body  during  life,  and  leaving  it  for  an 
eternal  existence  at  death,  but  is  rather  a  part  of  the 
universal  soul  or  "  vital  principle,"  which,  though  it  lives 
in  the  race — the  universal,  it  dies  in  the  individual — 
the  particular. 

The  Ethical  end  of  man  he  believed  to  be  happiness, 
which  was  to  be  attained  by  Justice  and  Culture.  He 
was  acquainted  with  over  five  hundred  species  of  animals, 
and  by  close  observation  and  dissection  had  discovered 
many  rudimentary  organs  and  their  causes.  The  germs 
of  the  "  Origin  of  Species  "  are  plainly  discernible  in  his 
1  "  Conflict  between  Religion  and  Science,"  p.  23. 


Ancient  Evolutionary  Thought  13 


works.  He  believed  in  the  gradual  development  of  all 
things,  and  rejected  the  notion  that  Nature  works  by  fits 
and  starts,  or  what  in  recent  years  have  been  called 
catastrophes. 

"  He  concluded  that  everything  is  ready  to  burst  into 
life,  and  that  the  various  organic  forms  presented  to  us 
by  Nature  are  those  which  existing  conditions  permit ; 
should  the  conditions  change,  the  forms  will  also  change. 
Hence  there  is  an  unbroken  chain  from  the  simple 
elements  through  plants  and  animals  up  to  man,  the 
different  groups  merging  by  insensible  shades  into  each 
other."1 

"  With  regard  to  the  history  of  Evolution,  it  is  es- 
pecially noticeable  that  Aristotle  traced  it  in  the  most 
diverse  classes  of  animals,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  lower  animals,  with  several  of  the  most  remarkable 
facts  which  we  have  rediscovered  only  towards  the 
middle  of  the  present  century.  Some  of  his  theoretical 
thoughts  are  of  special  interest,  because  they  indicate  a 
right  fundamental  principle  of  the  nature  of  the  processes 
of  evolution. 

"  He  conceives  the  evolution  of  the  individual  to  be  a 
new  formation,  in  which  the  several  parts  of  the  body 
develop  one  after  the  other.  According  to  him,  when 
the  human  or  animal  individual  develops  either  within 
the  mother's  body  or  out  of  it  in  the  egg}  the  heart  is 
formed  first,  and  is  the  beginning  and  the  centre  of  the 
body.  After  the  heart  is  formed  the  other  organs  appear; 
of  them  the  interior  precede  the  exterior,  and  the  upper, 
or  those  above  the  diaphragm,  precede  the  lower,  or  those 
below  it.  The  brain  is  formed  at  a  very  early  stage,  and 
out  of  it  grow  the  eyes.  This  assertion  is  indeed  quite 
accurate.  On  trying  to  obtain  from  these  statements  of 
Aristotle  an  idea  of  his  conception  of  the  processes  of 
evolution,  we  find  that  they  indicate  a  faint  presentiment 
of  that  theory  of  evolution  whicn  is  now  called  Epi- 
genesis,  and  which  Wolff,  some  two  thousand  years  later, 
first  proved.  It  is  especially  remarkable  that  Aristotle 
altogether  denied  the  eternity  of  the  individual.  He 
admitted  that  the  kind  of  species,  formed   from   indi- 

1  Dr.  Draper,  "  Conflict  between  Religion  and  Science,"  p.  23. 


14  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

viduals  of  the  same  kind,  might  possibly  be  eternal,  but 
asserted  that  the  individual  itself  was  transient,  that  it 
came  into  being  anew  in  the  act  of  generation,  and 
perished  at  death." 1  These  are,  indeed,  grand  results  to 
have  arrived  at  nearly  2,200  years  ago ;  and  yet  only 
within  the  present  century  have  they  borne  any  fruit. 

The  evolutionary  idea  was  present  to  many  of  the 
great  minds  of  antiquity,  as  may  be  seen  from  isolated 
expressions  scattered  through  their  writings.  Cicero 
says,  "  One  eternal  and  immutable  law  embraces  all 
things  and  all  times."  In  this  we  have  the  scientific 
conception  of  modern  times,  as  opposed  to  the 
anthropomorphical  ideas  of  the  theologians,  that  a 
personal  will  directly  superintends  every  event, 
however  small. 

In  the  writings  of  Zeno,  the  founder  of  the  ethical 
School  of  Philosophy  in  Greece,  we  find  the  most 
comprehensive  and  advanced  views : 


"  We  must  remember,"  he  says,  "  that  everything  around  us  is 
in  Mutation  ;  decay  follows  reproduction,  and  reproduction  decay, 
and  it  is  useless  to  repine  at  death  in  a  world  where  everything  is 
dying.  As  a  cataract  shows  from  year  to  year  an  invariable  shape, 
though  the  water  composing  it  is  perpetually  changing,  so  the 
aspect  of  Nature  is  nothing  more  than  a  flow  of  matter,  present- 
ing an  impermanent  form.  The  Universe,  considered  as  a  whole, 
is  unchangeable.  Nothing  is  eternal  but  space,  atoms,  force.  The 
forms  of  Nature  that  we  see  are  essentially  transitory,  they  must  all 
pass  away. 

"  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  majority  of  men  are  im- 
perfectly educated,  and  hence  we  must  not  needlessly  offend  the 
religious  ideas  of  our  age.  It  is  enough  for  us  ourselves  to  know 
that  though  there  is  a  Supreme  Power  there  is  no  Supreme  Being. 
There  is  an  invisible  principle,  but  not  a  personal  God,  to  whom 
it  would  be  not  so  much  blasphemy  as  absurdity  to  impute  the 
forms,  the  sentiments,  the  passions  of  man.  All  revelation  is 
necessarily  a  mere  fiction.  That  which  men  call  chance  is  only 
the  effect  of  an  unknown  cause.  Even  of  chance  there  is  a  law. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  Providence,  for  Nature  proceeds  under 
irresistible  laws,  and  in  this  respect  the  Universe  is  only  a  vast 
automatic  engine.  The  vital  force  which  pervades  the  world  the 
illiterate  call  God.  The  soul  of  man  is  a  spark  of  the  vital  flame, 
the  general  vital  principle.  Like  heat,  it  passes  from  one  to 
another,   and   is   finally  reabsorbed  or  reunited  in  the  universal 

1  E.  Haeckel,  "The  Evolution  of  Man,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  27-29. 


Ancient  Evolutionary  Thought  15 


principle  from  which  it  came.  Hence  we  must  not  expect  annihila- 
tion, but  reunion  ;  and  as  the  tired  man  looks  forward  to  the 
insensibility  of  sleep,  so  the  philosopher,  weary  of  the  world, 
should  look  forward  to  the  tranquillity  of  extinction."  He  further 
says,  however,  that  "  of  these  things  we  can  have  no  certain 
knowledge,  since  it  is  not  only  unphilosophical  but  futile  to 
inquire  into  first  causes  ;  we  can  deal  only  with  the  phenomenal. 
Man  cannot  ascertain  absolute  truth  ;  we  are  incapable  of  perfect 
knowledge  ;  and  even  if  the  truth  be  in  our  possession,  we  cannot 
be  sure  of  it."  x 


It  will  be  noticed  that  Zeno  uses  the  words 
"  annihilation  "  and  "  extinction  "  in  two  different 
senses.  No  part  of  us  can  be  annihilated,  but  simply 
changed  in  form.  The  bodily  part  at  death  rejoins 
the  matter  of  the  world  from  which  it  was  taken  and 
built  up,  while  the  vital  force,  according  to  him,  in  like 
manner  goes  back  to  the  universal  force,  and  is  re- 
absorbed. This  change  of  form  produces  extinction 
of  consciousness ;  and  this  appears  to  be  the  sense  in 
which  he  uses  the  word  "extinction,"  or  its  equiva- 
lent. 

Everything  about  the  individual  becomes  reabsorbed 
in  the  universal.  The  Greek  thinker  here  foreshadows 
the  modern  doctrine  of  the  Conservation  of  Energy, 
supposing  the  "  vital  energy "  to  be  a  manifestation 
of  general   physical   force. 

So  far,  then,  we  see  that  the  universal  law  of 
Evolution,  by  which  worlds  and  all  they  contain  are 
produced,  was  known  to  the  ancients.  Beginning  with 
matter  and  force,  they  had  evolved  the  theory  that 
from  these  two  elements  all  Nature  has  arisen  in  one 
continuous,  unbroken  chain,  the  last  link  of  which  is 
man. 

All  the  forms  of  Nature  have  arisen  by  imperceptible 
degrees,  the  higher  from  the  lower,  without  the  slightest 
break  in  the  whole  series  of  being,  both  organic 
and  inorganic.  This  grand  and  true  conception  was 
given  to  the  world  in  the  early  days  of  recorded 
history.     It   died    like   every  other  great  discovery   of 

1  Dr.  Draper's  "  Conflict  between  Religion  and  Science,"  pp.  24, 
25. 


1 6  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

ancient  times,  and  lay  buried  for  over  1,800  years,  not 
a  trace  of  it  being  discernible  during  that  long  period. 
The  rediscovery  was  reserved  for  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  II 

INORGANIC    FORMATION 

In  1755  Kant,  the  great  German  philosopher,  published 
his  "  General  History  of  Nature,  and  Theory  of  the 
Heavens."  In  this  work  Kant  makes  a  bold  attempt  to 
explain  the  mechanical  origin  of  the  Universe,  according 
to  Newton's  principles,  by  a  natural  course  of  develop- 
ment, to  the  exclusion  of  all  miracles.  His  "  Cosmo- 
logical  Gas  Theory  "  has  since  been  fully  established  by 
Laplace  and  Herschel.  Kant  held  that  in  inorganic 
nature  there  was  no  necessity  to  conceive  of  any  direct- 
ing intelligence,  that  mechanical  laws  were  alone  sufficient 
to  account  for  everything.  All  phenomena,  he  maintains, 
are  explicable  by  mere  mechanism,  and  require  no  inter- 
vention of  a  will  or  final  purpose.  That  is  to  say,  in  the 
world  of  not-living  matter — as  it  appears  to  us— we  can 
explain  all  phenomena  by  the  action  alone  of  well-known 
mechanical  laws,  which  act  of  necessity,  under  the  pres- 
sure of  persistent  force ;  and  that  it  is  needless  to 
introduce  into  this  part  of  nature  at  least  any  inter- 
vention whatsoever  from  a  Superintending  Intelligence, 
which  people  generally  call  God. 

Kant  admitted,  and  indeed  insisted  on,  the  all -suffici- 
ency of  this  mechanism  to  produce  the  whole  of  inorganic 
nature.  But  when  we  come  to  living,  or  organic  nature, 
Kant  doubted  if  a  Newton  would  ever  arise  to  reduce 
the  mysterious  complexity  of  living  forms  to  mechanical 
laws.  He  could  not  conceive  it  possible  for  the  mind  of 
man  to  penetrate  into  Nature's  workshop,  and  discover 
the  processes  by  which  a  blade  of  grass,  for  example,  is 
made  to  grow  otherwise  than  by  an  intelligent  principle 
working  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  specific  end — or,  in 
other  words,  by  the  will  of  God.  He  did  not  deny  to 
human  reason  the  right  to  investigate  and  explain,  if 

17  B 


1 8  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

possible,  all  phenomena  mechanically  ;  but  he  believed 
that  the  limited  power  of  man  precluded  all  possibility 
of  conceiving  of  organic  nature  otherwise  than  from  a 
teleological  point  of  view. 

While,  however,  expressing  his  inability  to  imagine 
that  the  mechanical  laws  of  form  and  growth  in  organic 
nature  would  ever  be  discovered,  if  indeed  they  existed, 
he  is  forced  by  the  necessity  of  thought  on  the  subject 
into  views  which  plainly  foreshadow,  if  they  do  not 
distinctly  contain,  the  theory  of  descent.  The  most  im- 
portant and  remarkable  of  these  passages  occurs  in  his 
"  Methodical  System  of  the  Teleological  Faculty  of 
Judgment,"  which  appeared  in  1790  in  the  "  Criticism  of 
the  Faculty  of  Judgment.'7 

"It  is,"  he  says,  "desirable  to  examine  the  great  domain  of 
organised  nature  by  means  of  a  methodical  comparative  anatomy, 
in  order  to  discover  whether  we  may  not  find  in  it  something  re- 
sembling a  system,  and  that,  too,  in  connection  with  the  mode  of 
generation,  so  that  we  may  no  longer  be  compelled  to  stop  short 
with  a  mere  consideration  of  forms  as  they  are— which  gives  us  no 
insight  into  their  generation— and  need  no  longer  give  up  in  despair 
all  hope  of  gaining  a  full  insight  into  this  department  of  Nature. 
The  agreement  of  so  many  kinds  of  animals  in  a  certain  common 
plan  of  structure,  which  seems  to  be  visible  not  only  in  their 
skeletons,  but  also  in  the  arrangement  of  the  remaining  parts— so 
that  a  wonderfully  simple  typical  form,  by  the  shortening  and 
lengthening  of  some  parts,  and  by  the  suppression  and  develop- 
ment of  others,  might  be  able  to  produce  an  immense  variety  of 
species— gives  us  a  ray  of  hope,  though  feeble,  that  here  perhaps 
some  result  may  be  obtained,  by  the  application  of  the  principle  of 
the  mechanism  of  Nature,  without  which,  in  fact,  no  science  can 
exist.  This  analogy  of  forms  (in  so  far  as  they  seem  to  have  been 
produced  in  accordance  with  a  common  prototype,  notwithstanding 
their  great  variety)  strengthens  the  supposition  that  they  have  an 
actual  blood  relationship  due  to  origination  from  a  common  parent 
— a  supposition  which  is  arrived  at  by  observation  of  the  graduated 
approximation  of  one  class  of  animals  to  another,  beginning  with 
the  one  in  which  the  principle  of  purposiveness  seems  to  be  most 
conspicuous — that  is,  man — and  extending  down  to  the  polyps,  and 
from  this  even  down  to  mosses  and  lichens,  and  arriving  finally  at 
raw  matter,  the  lowest  stage  of  Nature  observable  by  us.  From 
this  matter  and  its  forces  the  whole  apparatus  of  Nature  seems  to 
have  descended  according  to  mechanical  laws  (such  as  those  which 
she  follows  in  the  production  of  crystals)  ;  yet  this  apparatus,  as 
seen  in  organic  beings,  is  so  incomprehensible  to  us  that  we  feel 
ourselves  compelled  to  conceive  for  it  a  different  principle.     But  it 


Inorganic  Formation  19 


would  seem  that  the  archaeologist  of  Nature  is  at  liberty  to  regard 
the  great  Family  of  creatures  (for  as  a  Family  we  must  conceive  it, 
if  the  above-mentioned  continuous  and  connected  relationship  has 
a  real  foundation)  as  having  sprung  from  the  immediate  results  of 
her  earliest  revolutions,  judging  from  all  the  laws  of  their  mechanism 
known  to  or  conjectured  by  him." 

In  this  passage  Kant  explicitly  expresses  himself  in 
favour  of  the  view  that  the  mechanical  laws  prevailing 
in  the  formation  of  inanimate  nature  will  ultimately 
be  found  to  be  the  efficient  cause  in  the  production 
of  the  organic  world.  Subsequent  research  and  obser- 
vation have  proved  the  sagacity  and  depth  of  his 
penetration. 

Kant,  one  of  the  deepest  thinkers  of  modern  times, 
assumed  that  the  Universe  of  worlds,  suns,  moons,  stars, 
comets,  etc.,  was,  at  an  inconceivably  remote  period,  a 
formless  mass  of  fiery  mist— a  kind  of  gaseous  chaos 
infinitely  extended,  out  of  which  all  the  heavenly  bodies, 
as  far  as  the  mind  can  conceive  of  their  existence, 
have  been  formed  by  the  operation  of  well-known 
mathematico- astronomical  laws.  This  Cosmical  Gas 
Theory  of  the  development  of  the  Universe,  as  we  have 
said  above,  has  since  been  proved  to  be  true  by  Laplace, 
Herschel,  and  others.  It  harmonises  with  all  the  series 
of  phenomena  at  present  known  to  us,  and  is  generally 
accepted  by  competent  inquirers. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  theory 
touches  the  real  origin  of  the  Universe,  either  in  regard 
to  matter  or  motion.  We  are  as  incapable  of  conceiving 
a  first  beginning  to  the  Universe  as  we  are  of  a  final 
end  ;  both  are  alike  unthinkable,  at  least  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  our 
faculties  of  knowing.  The  late  G.  H.  Lewes  said, 
speaking  of  the  boundary  of  the  knowable  set  by  the 
conditions  of  thought,  "  To  know  more  we  must  be 
more."  Whether  in  the  course  of  long  ages  continuous 
evolution  will  ultimately  make  us  "  more,"  and  enable 
us  to  transcend  the  present  limits,  we  cannot  say.  At 
present  the  Infinite  hems  us  in  on  all  sides,  and  we  can 
only  deal  with  the  finite  in  time  and  space,  though 
under  an  unavoidable  necessity  of  postulating  the  Infinite 


22  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


The  sun  may  in  time  absorb  all  the  planets,  and  the 
whole  mass  reach  a  state  of  complete  equilibrium  or 
quiescence  ;  but  that  it  can  remain  so  for  ever  in  a 
Universe  where  innumerable  other  systems  are  in 
motion,  and  acting  upon  the  solar  mass,  is,  we  may 
speculatively  assume,  impossible.  Hence  there  cannot 
be  Universal  Death  ;  while  one  system  is  dying,  another 
is  slowly  emerging  from  death  or  quiescence  by  the 
action  of  surrounding  motion.1  On  this  subject  see 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  "  First  Principles." 

These  are  subjects,  however,  too  far-reaching  and 
speculative  to  supply  us  with  data  for  exact  knowledge ; 
and,  moreover,  such  speculations  are  not  germane  to 
our  purpose. 

Disregarding  the  question  as  to  the  origin  of  motion, 
resulting  in  the  formation  of  the  celestial  bodies  as  a 
whole,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  Nebular  hypothesis 
is  true,  and  that  all  the  bodies  in  our  solar  system  were 
at  one  time  a  diffused  mass  of  fiery  mist,  filling  the 
entire  space  within  the  circumference  of  its  area.  By 
the  action  of  well-known  mechanical  laws  this  fiery 
mist  must  have  become  differentiated  into  the  various 
planets,  etc.,  forming  the  solar  system,  including,  of 
course,  the  earth.  In  course  of  time  the  mist  became 
denser  and  denser,  until,  having  passed  through  the 
various  stages,  the  outer  crust  became  solidified  and 
hard,  and  eventually  was  fitted  for  the  abode  and 
sustenance  of  life. 

The  manner  in  which  the  sun  and  all  the  other  bodies 
composing  our  system  were  formed  from  the  fiery  mist 
is  not  hypothetical,  but  well  established  by  the  known 
laws  of  Nature  operating  to  that  end.  The  whole 
structure,  etc.,  of  the  solar  system  is  the  result  of  those 
laws  by  which  the  mechanism  could  have  been  pre- 
dicted by  man.  From  the  persistence  of  matter  and 
force  the  sun,  planets,  moons,  etc.,  arose  from  that 
attenuated  gas  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  independently 
altogether  of  any  external  power.     The  inherent  forces 

1  We  are  probably  on  the  eve  of  new  discoveries  respecting  that 
mysterious  substance  ether,  which  may  greatly  extend  the  boundary 
of  our  knowledge  of  this  and  many  other  subjects. 


Inorganic  Formation  23 


of  eternal  matter  are  here  all-sufficient  to  produce  the 
mechanical  phenomena;  and  not  only  is  this  evident, 
but  the  introduction  of  any  other  agency  becomes  an 
impossibility  in  thought. 

It  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose  in  view  to  state  known 
facts  without  going  into  elaborate  details,  our  object 
not  being  to  teach  science. 


CHAPTER  III 

ORGANIC    FORMATION 

It  is  to  Casper  Friedrich  Wolff,  who  was  born  in  Berlin 
in  1733,  that  the  world  is  indebted  for  the  true  theory  of 
evolution.  Previous  to  his  discovery,  it  was  believed 
that  the  germ  contained  the  whole  individual,  and  that 
it  grew  by  an  unfolding,  as  it  were,  of  the  various  parts. 
According  to  this  theory,  all  the  organs  are  existent 
in  the  germ,  and  as  the  embryo  grows,  the  organs  all 
undergo  a  process  of  development  simultaneously. 
The  word  evolution  really  accurately  describes  this 
process,  and  is  more  properly  applicable  to  it  than  to  the 
process  established  by  Wolff",  and  known  as  Epigenesis. 
This,  which  is  now  known  to  be  the  true  method  of  growth, 
is  exactly  the  reverse  of  the  germ  development  idea 
described  above. 

Wolff  discovered  that  the  germ  is  primitively  homo- 
geneous, and  grows  by  additions  from  without,  the 
various  organs  becoming  formed  and  differentiated  step 
by  step,  until  the  animal  or  plant  is  complete  in  form. 
The  process  is  precisely  similar  in  both  animal  and 
vegetable.  The  primitive  germ  is,  in  plain  language, 
nothing  but  a  tiny  speck  of  undifferentiated  matter,  too 
small  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye ;  to  this  speck  are 
added  others  of  similar  character,  and  as  it  grows  in 
size,  the  formation  and  differentiation  of  the  organs  go 
on,  until  they  are  all  fully  formed,  and  the  structure  of 
the  animal  or  plant  is  completed. 

"  The  special  novelty  of  Wolffs  discovery  consisted  mainly  in 
this,  that  he  showed  that  the  germinal  part  of  the  bird's  egg  forms 
a  layer  of  united  granules  or  organised  particles  (cells  of  the 
modern  histologist)  presenting  at  first  no  semblance  of  the  form 
or  structure  of  the  future  embryo,  but  gradually  converted  by 
various  morphological  changes  in  the  formative  material,  which 

24 


Organic  Formation  25 


are  all  capable  of  being  traced  by  observation  into  the  several 
rudimentary  organs  and  systems  of  the  embryo.  Wolff  further 
showed  that  the  growing  parts  of  plants  owe  their  origin  to 
organised  particles  or  cells,  so  that  he  was  led  to  the  great 
generalisation  that  the  processes  of  embryonic  formation,  and  of 
adult  growth  and  nutrition,  are  all  of  a  like  nature  in  both  plants 
and  animals." 3 

Wolff's  discovery  shared  the  fate  of  other  great 
discoveries  ;  it  was  rejected  for  many  years  by  those 
whose  special  business  it  should  have  been  to  investigate 
and  recognise  its  truth.  It  was  not  until  sixty  years 
after  he  first  published  it  that  it  gained  acceptance,  and 
was  finally  established.  The  slow  growth  of  knowledge 
is  nowhere  more  painfully  shown  than  in  the  fact,  that 
scientific  men  even  will  resist  and  reject  for  a  time  new 
discoveries  which  upset  any  theory  that  they  have  come 
to  regard  as  true.  Fortunately  for  progress,  however, 
the  scientific  man's  objection  ceases  the  moment  his 
reason  is  convinced.  With  him  the  objection  is  intel- 
lectual rather  than  emotional  ;  with  the  theologian  it  is 
exactly  the  reverse.  The  latter  feels,  the  former  thinks ; 
hence  the  never-ending  conflict  between  religion  and 
science. 

The  theory  of  evolution  by  Epigenesis  was  now  be- 
coming a  subject  of  inquiry  ;  and  in  the  works  of  many 
eminent  biologists  of  this  period  there  are  numerous 
isolated  passages  which  express  in  more  or  less  definite 
language  a  knowledge  of  the  true  process.  But  there 
was  no  systematic  study  of  the  subject  as  an  organic 
whole,  embracing  the  unity  of  Nature,  until  the  great 
French  scientist,  Jean  Lamarck,  appeared.  He  was  born 
in  1744,  and  stands  at  the  head  of  the  men  of  his  period 
as  a  biologist  and  a  thinker.  And  perhaps  even  at  the 
present  day  no  name,  except  that  of  our  immortal 
Darwin,  stands  higher  than  his.  In  1 801,  he  published 
his  theory,  but  treated  it  more  fully  in  his  "  Philosophic 
Zoologique,"  published  in  1809.     Haeckel  says  : 

"  This  admirable  work  is  the  first  connected  exposition 
of  the  Theory  of  Descent  carried  out  strictly  into  all  its 
consequences."     Cuvier  was  his  great  opponent,  and  in 
1  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  vol.  viii.,  p.  165. 


26  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

consequence  of  the  authority  he  exercised  as  a  naturalist, 
Lamarck's  discoveries  made  no  progress  for  nearly  half 
a  century.  Naturalists  were  still  under  the  influence  of 
the  Biblical  History  of  Creation  ;  and  the  whole  force  of 
social  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  Lamarck  and 
his  "  impious  "  theory.  It  is  a  mere  truism  to  say  that 
had  he  lived  a  few  years  earlier  he  would  have  been 
burnt  alive  at  the  stake,  as  the  noble-hearted  Bruno  and 
many  others  had  been  before  him. 

The  following  quotation  from  Haeckel  will  enable 
the  reader  to  judge  of  the  great  value  of  Lamarck's 
labours : 

"According  to  him,  there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
animate  and  inanimate  Nature  ;  all  Nature  is  a  single  world  of 
connected  phenomena,  and  the  same  causes  which  form  and  trans- 
form inanimate  natural  bodies  are  alone  those  which  are  at  work 
in  animate  Nature.  Hence  we  must  apply  the  same  methods  of 
investigation  and  explanation  to  both.  Life  is  only  a  physical 
phenomenon.  The  conditions  of  internal  and  external  form  of  all 
organisms,  plants,  and  animals,  with  man  at  their  head,  are  to  be 
explained,  like  those  of  minerals  and  other  inanimate  natural 
bodies,  only  by  natural  causes  {causes  efficientes),  without  the 
additions  of  purposive  causes  {causes  finales).  The  same  is  true  of 
the  origin  of  the  various  species.  Without  contradicting  Nature, 
we  can  neither  assume  for  them  one  original  act  of  creation,  nor 
repeated  new  creations,  as  implied  in  Cuvier's  '  Doctrine  of 
Catastrophes,'  but  only  a  natural,  uninterrupted,  and  necessary 
evolution.  The  entire  course  of  the  evolution  of  the  earth  and  its 
inhabitants  is  continuous  and  connected.  All  the  various  species  of 
animals  and  plants  which  we  now  see  around  us,  or  which  ever 
existed,  have  developed  in  a  natural  manner  from  previously 
existing  different  species  ;  all  are  descendants  of  a  single  ancestral 
form,  or  at  least  from  a  few  common  forms.  The  most  ancient  ancestral 
forms  must  have  been  very  simple  organisms,  of  the  lowest  grade,  and 
must  have  originated  from  inorganic  matter  by  means  of  spontaneous 
generation.  Adaptation  through  practice  and  habit  to  the  changing 
external  condition  of  life  has  ever  been  the  cause  of  changes  in  the 
nature  of  organic  species,  and  heredity  caused  the  transmission  of 
these  modifications  to  their  descendants."  l 

In   Lamarck  we  no  longer  have  glimpses  here  and 
there  of  the  doctrine  of  development,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  whole  of  his  predecessors,  but  a  coherent  and  ex- 
haustive exposition  of  the  entire  field  of  evolution,  from 
1  "  Evolution  of  Man,"  pp.  24,  25, 


Organic  Formation  27 


atoms  and  molecules  up  to  man.  The  following  quota- 
tion from  his  "  Philosophic  Zoologique  "  contains  a  con- 
cise statement  of  some  of  the  most  important  principles 
of  monistic  Biology  : 

"  The  systematic  division  of  classes,  orders,  families,  genera,  and 
species,  as  well  as  their  designations,  are  the  arbitrary  and 
artificial  productions  of  man.  The  kinds  or  species  of  organisms 
are  of  unequal  age,  developed  one  after  the  other,  and  show  only  a 
relative  and  temporary  persistence.  Species  arise  out  of  varieties. 
The  differences  in  the  conditions  of  life  have  a  modifying  influence 
on  the  organisation,  the  general  form,  and  the  parts  of  animals, 
and  so  has  the  use  or  disuse  of  organs.  In  the  first  beginning, 
only  the  very  simplest  and  lowest  animals  and  plants  came  into 
existence ;  those  of  a  more  complex  organisation  only  at  a  later 
period.  The  course  of  the  earth's  development,  and  that  of  its 
organic  inhabitants,  was  continuous,  not  interrupted  by  violent 
revolutions.  Life  is  purely  a  physical  phenomenon.  All  the 
phenomena  of  life  depend  on  mechanical,  physical,  and  chemical 
causes,  which  are  inherent  in  the  nature  of  matter  itself.  The 
simplest  animals  and  the  simplest  plants,  which  stand  at  the  lowest 
point  in  the  scale  of  organisation,  have  originated,  and  still 
originate,  by  spontaneous  generation.  All  animate  natural  bodies 
or  organisms  are  subject  to  the  same  laws  as  inanimate  natural 
bodies  or  inorgana.  The  ideas  and  actions  of  the  understanding 
are  the  motional  phenomena  of  the  central  nervous  system.  The 
will  is,  in  truth,  never  free.  Reason  is  only  a  higher  degree  of 
development  and  combination  of  judgments." 

Referring  to  this  passage,  Haeckel  says  : 

"  These  are  indeed  astonishingly  bold,  grand,  and  far-reaching 
views,  and  were  expressed  by  Lamarck  sixty  years  ago  ;  in  fact,  at 
a  time  when  their  establishment  by  a  mass  of  facts  was  not  nearly 
as  possible  as  it  is  in  our  day.  Indeed,  Lamarck's  work  is  really  a 
complete  and  strictly  monistic  (mechanical)  system  of  Nature,  and 
all  the  important  general  principles  of  monistic  Biology  are  already 
enunciated  by  him  ;  the  unity  of  the  active  causes  in  organic  and 
inorganic  nature  ;  the  ultimate  explanation  of  these  causes  in  the 
chemical  and  physical  properties  of  matter  itself ;  the  absence  of  a 
special  vital  power,  or  of  an  organic  final  cause  ;  the  derivation  of 
all  organisms  from  some  few,  most  simple  original  forms,  which 
have  come  into  existence  by  spontaneous  generation  out  of  in- 
organic matter  ;  the  coherent  course  of  the  whole  earth's  history  ; 
the  absence  of  violent  cataclysmic  revolutions  ;  and  in  general  the 
inconceivableness  of  any  miracle,  of  any  supernatural  interference, 
in  the  natural  course  of  the  development  of  matter."  x 
1  "The  History  of  Creation,''  vol.  i.,  p.  112, 


28  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

In  the  above  quotation  from  Lamarck,  and  Haeckel's 
acceptance  of  the  views  therein  expressed,  there  are  two 
points  of  exceptional  importance,  viz.,  the  denial  of 
freedom  of  the  will,  and  the  assertion  that  origination  of 
life  by  spontaneous  generation  is  still  going  on.  The 
so-called  freedom  of  the  will  is,  indeed,  a  scientific  im- 
possibility, and  the  continuous  origin  of  life  during  the 
period  of  organic  existence  on  the  earth  is  necessitated 
by  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution. 

If  evolution  is  true,  so  also  is,  it  would  appear,  the 
theory  that  the  development  of  life  from  inorganic 
matter  takes  place  to-day,  and  has  taken  place  con- 
tinually and  uninterruptedly  since  the  earth  first  arrived 
at  a  condition  favourable  for  the  production  of  life. 
Masses  of  structureless  matter  possessing  life  are  found 
all  over  the  world,  and  especially  at  great  sea  depths. 
Evolution  supposes  that  from  this  primitive  living  sub- 
stance the  whole  of  organic  nature  has  arisen,  including 
man  himself.  It  seems  unreasonable,  if  not  impossible, 
to  suppose  that  while  some  of  the  simple  organisms 
developed  into  higher  and  more  complex  forms,  eventu- 
ally, through  unimaginably  long  periods  of  time, 
producing  all  the  varieties  of  animals  and  plants 
known  to  us,  others  should  have  remained  during  all 
these  long  ages  in  a  stationary  condition. 

If  the  lowest  forms  of  life  of  to-day,  the  monera, 
began  their  ancestral  life  contemporaneously  with  man, 
then  the  former  have  made  absolutely  no  progress,  while 
the  latter  has  passed  through  an  infinite  variety  of  forms 
in  the  gradual  ascent  to  his  present  marvellously  complex 
and  perfect  structure  ;  and  yet  both  have  been  subject 
to  similar — we  might  say  the  same — conditions.  The 
fundamental  principle  of  evolution  negatives  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  theory  being  true.  Either  the  origin  of 
life  from  inorganic  matter — or  what  is  called  spontaneous 
generation — has  occurred  throughout  organic  existence, 
and  is  occurring  at  the  present  time,  or  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  is  not  true.  From  this  position  it  appears 
there  is  no  escape. 

The  whole  history  of  science  and  philosophy  cannot 
show  a  bolder  or  more  uncompromising  investigator  and 


Organic  Formation  29 

expounder  of  scientific  truth  than  Lamarck.  He  makes 
no  attempt,  as  many,  indeed  most,  scientific  men  do,  to 
propitiate  the  popular  religious  bodies  by  deprecating 
continually  the  idea  that  any  antagonism  can  exist 
between  the  truths  of  Nature  and  "  revelation."  He 
had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and  did  not  concern 
himself  in  any  way  with  the  latter.  Like  all  his  pre- 
decessors, he  paid  the  penalty  of  his  devotion  to  truth 
by  having  every  path  closed  against  him,  and  his  life 
was  one  long  and  incessant  struggle  for  the  bare  neces- 
saries of  existence.  He  died,  in  1829,  in  the  midst  of 
the  deepest  poverty,  having  some  fifteen  years  previously 
completely  lost  his  eyesight.  He  was  pursued  and 
persecuted  on  all  sides  for  proclaiming  his  grand 
discovery  of  the  mechanism  and  unity  of  Nature. 

The  following  extract  from  his  writings  will  show  that 
he  did  not  shrink  from  carrying  out  his  theory  into  all 
its  consequences,  and  proclaiming  the  kinship  of  man 
himself  with  the  lower  animals ;  and  that  at  a  time 
when  the  so-called  scientific  knowledge  of  the  age  re- 
jected with  scorn  and  contempt  the  theory  as  applied 
to  even  the  lower  forms  of  life. 

"  It  would  be  an  easy  task,"  wrote  Lamarck,  in  1809,  "to  show 
that  the  characteristics  in  the  organisation  of  man,  on  account  of 
which  the  human  species  and  races  are  grouped  as  a  distinct  family, 
are  all  results  of  former  changes  and  occupation,  and  of  acquired 
habits,  which  have  come  to  be  distinctive  of  individuals  of  his  kind. 
When,  compelled  by  circumstances,  the  most  highly  developed 
apes  accustomed  themselves  to  walking  erect,  they  gained  the 
ascendant  over  the  other  animals.  The  absolute  advantage  they 
enjoyed,  and  the  new  requirements  imposed  on  them,  made  them 
change  their  mode  of  life,  which  resulted  in  the  gradual  modifica- 
tion of  their  organisation,  and  in  their  acquiring  many  new  qualities, 
and  among  them  the  wonderful  power  of  speech.'; 

It  can  well  be  imagined  the  reception  such  a  bold 
declaration  would  meet  with  eighty  odd  years  ago,  when 
the  science  of  biology  was  in  its  infancy,  and  those 
possessing  the  greatest  authority  were  earnestly  con- 
cerned in  making  the  subject  of  their  study  in  all  respects 
square  with  the  Bible.  There  was  no  one  so  poor  in 
intellect   that   he   could    not  sit   in  judgment  on   such 


30  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

"  absurdities,"  and  laugh  at  the  solitary  unknown  thinker, 
whose  poverty  all  the  more  rendered  him  a  safe  and 
easy  object  of  ridicule.  Little  could  the  Church  fore- 
see the  consequences  to  her  which  were  ultimately  to 
flow  from  Lamarck's  despised  doctrine. 

The  most  celebrated  of  the  Nature-philosophers  in 
France  at  this  time  was  Etienne  Geoffrey  de  St.  Hilaire, 
who,  in  all  essentials,  adopted  Lamarck's  theory  of 
descent,  though  differing  from  him  somewhat  in  details. 
He  was  Cuvier's  most  prominent  opponent,  and  a 
memorable  contest  took  place  between  them  in  1830  in 
the  French  Academy. 

Cuvier  maintained  that  the  earth  had  undergone  a 
series  of  catastrophes,  or  cataclysmic  revolutions,  which 
at  each  occurrence  destroyed  every  form  of  life  ;  and 
that  each  catastrophe  was  succeeded  by  an  entirely  new 
creation  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms.  This 
was  an  assumption  which  was  supposed  to  save  the 
credit  of  the  Biblical  account  of  creation  ;  and  it  met 
with  great  favour  from  all  except  the  very  few  great 
thinkers  who  were  capable  of  understanding  the  theory 
of  descent. 

The  audience  of  scientists  was  well  acquainted  with 
Cuvier's  views  in  all  their  details  ;  and  it  is  not  at  all 
surprising,  therefore,  that  the  verbal  victory  should  have 
been  awarded  to  him.  Geoffrey  had  not  only  to  break 
new  ground,  but  the  facts  with  which  he  had  to  deal 
were  not  so  obvious  to  the  eye  and  understanding  as 
those  which  were  at  the  command  of  Cuvier.  The 
induction  of  facts  was  too  meagre  to  appeal  to  the 
judgment  of  those  who  approached  the  subject  for  the 
first  time ;  and  Cuvier  was  able  to  impress  his  audience 
with  the  conviction  that  the  Nature-philosophers  were 
not  justified  in  drawing  such  comprehensive  conclusions 
from  the  empirical  knowledge  which  was  then  in  their 
possession.  Cuvier's  victory  over  Geoffrey  de  St.  Hilaire 
on  this  memorable  occasion  prevented  all  further  study 
of  the  theory  for  thirty  years.  Goethe,  although  in  his 
eighty-first  year  at  the  time,  took  the  deepest  interest  in 
the  discussion,  as  the  following  anecdote,  related  by 
Soret,  shows. 


Organic  Formation  31 


"  Monday,  Aug.  2,  1830. — The  news  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution  arrived  in  Weimar  to-day,  and  has  caused  great  excite- 
ment. In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  I  went  to  Goethe.  '  Well  ! ' 
he  exclaimed  as  I  entered,  '  what  do  you  think  of  this  great  event  ? 
The  volcano  has  burst  forth,  all  is  in  flames,  and  there  are  no  more 
negotiations  behind  closed  doors.'  '  A  dreadful  affair,5  I  answered  ; 
'  but  what  else  could  be  expected  under  the  circumstances,  and 
with  such  a  ministry,  except  that  it  would  end  in  the  expulsion  of 
the  present  royal  family  ? '  '  We  do  not  seem  to  understand  each 
other,  my  dear  friend,'  replied  Goethe.  '  I  am  not  speaking  of 
those  people  at  all  ;  I  am  interested  in  something  very  different. 
I  mean  the  dispute  between  Cuvier  and  Geoffrey  de  Saint  Hilaire, 
which  has  broken  out  in  the  Academy,  and  which  is  of  such  great 
importance  to  science.'  This  remark  of  Goethe's  came  upon  me 
so  unexpectedly  that  I  did  not  know  what  to  say,  and  my  thoughts 
for  some  minutes  seemed  to  have  come  to  a  complete  standstill. 
'The  affair  is  of  the  utmost  importance,'  he  continued,  'and 
you  cannot  form  any  idea  of  what  I  felt  on  receiving  the  news  of 
the  meeting  on  the  19th.  In  Geoffrey  de  Saint  Hilaire  we  have 
now  a  mighty  ally  for  a  long  time  to  come.  But  I  see  also  how 
great  the  sympathy  of  the  French  scientific  world  must  be  in  this 
affair,  for,  in  spite  of  the  terrible  political  excitement,  the  meeting 
on  the  19th  was  attended  by  a  full  house.  The  best  of  it  is,  how- 
ever, that  the  synthetic  treatment  of  Nature,  introduced  into  France 
by  Geoffrey,  can  now  no  longer  be  stopped.  This  matter  has  now 
become  public  through  the  discussions  in  the  Academy,  carried  on 
in  the  presence  of  a  large  audience  ;  it  can  no  longer  be  referred 
to  secret  committees,  or  be  settled  or  suppressed  behind  closed 
doors.' ': 

In  the  following  quotation  from  Goethe's  poem,  "The 
Metamorphosis  of  Animals,"  his  view  of  the  processes  of 
organic  growth  is  clearly  stated. 

"All  members  develop  themselves  according  to  eternal  laws, 
And  the  rarest  form  mysteriously  preserves  the  primitive  type. 
Form  therefore  determines  the  animal's  way  of  life, 
And  in  turn  the  way  of  life  powerfully  reacts  upon  all  form. 
Thus  the  orderly  growth  of  form  is  seen  to  hold, 
Whilst  yielding  to  change  from  externally  acting  causes."  1 

Goethe  includes  man  in  the  series  of  organic  develop- 
ment. Man,  he  maintained,  is  a  product  of  a  lower 
animal  form,  and  is  the  last  link  in  the  chain  of  animal 
evolution. 

While  Goethe  was  thinking  out  some  of  the  most  im- 
1  Haeckel's  "  History  of  Creation,"  vol.  i.,  p.  89. 


32  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


portant  laws  of  evolution,  another  great  German  wasat 
the  same  time  engaged  in  similar  studies,  and  quite  in- 
dependently of  each  other  both  arrived  at  the  same 
results.  G.  R.  Treviranus  published  "  The  Biology  and 
Philosophy  of  Animate  Nature,"  in  1802  ;  and  from  the 
following  extract  it  will  be  seen  that  the_  mechanical 
processes  of  evolution  were  well  known  to  him. 

"  Every  form  of  life  can  be  produced  by  physical  forces  in  one 
of  two  ways  :  either  by  coming  into  being  out  of  formless  matter, 
or  by  modification  of  an  already  existing  form  by  a  continued 
process  of  shaping.  In  the  latter  case  the  cause  of  this  modifica- 
tion may  lie  either  in  the  influence  of  a  dissimilar  male  generative 
matter  upon  the  female  germ,  or  in  the  influence  of  other  powers 
which  operate  only  after  procreation.  In  every  living  being  there 
exists  the  capability  of  an  endless  variety  of  form-assumptions  ; 
each  possesses  the  power  to  adapt  its  organisation  to  the  changes 
of  the  outer  world,  and  it  is  this  power  put  into  action  by  the 
change  of  the  Universe  that  has  raised  the  simple  zoophytes  of  the 
primitive  world  to  continually  higher  stages  of  organisation,  and 
has  introduced  a  countless  variety  of  species  into  animate 
Nature.  .  .  .  These  zoophytes  are  the  original  forms  out  of  which 
all  the  organisms  of  the  higher  classes  have  arisen  by  gradual 
development.  We  are  further  of  opinion  that  every  species,  as 
well  as  every  individual,  has  certain  periods  of  growth,  of  bloom, 
and  of  decay,  but  that  the  decay  of  a  species  is  degeneration,  not 
dissolution,  as  in  the  case  of  the  individual.  From  this  it  appears 
to  us  to  follow  that  it  was  not  the  great  catastrophes  of  the  earth 
(as  is  generally  supposed)  which  destroyed  the  animals  of  the 
primitive  world,  but  that  many  survived  them,  and  it  is  more 
probable  that  they  have  disappeared  from  existing  Nature,  because 
the  species  to  which  they  belonged  have  completed  the  circles  of 
their  existence,  and  have  been  changed  into  other  kinds.  .  .  .  Every 
inquiry  into  the  influence  of  the  whole  of  Nature  on  the  living 
world  must  start  from  the  principle  that  all  living  forms  are  products 
of  physical  influences,  which  are  acting  even  now,  and  are  changed 
only  in  degree,  or  in  direction. " 

Haeckel,  from  whose  "  History  of  Creation  "  the  above 
extracts  are  taken,  remarks  : 

"When  Treviranus,  in  this  and  other  passages,  points  to  de- 
generation as  the  most  important  cause  of  the  transformation  of  the 
animal  and  vegetable  species,  he  does  not  understand  by  it  what 
is  now  commonly  called  degeneration.  With  him  '  degeneration  ' 
is  exactly  what  we  now  call  adaptation  or  modification,  by  the 
action   of  external  formative  forces.     That  Treviranus  explained 


Organic  Formation  33 


this  transformation  of  organic  species  by  adaptation,  and  its  pre- 
servation by  inheritance,  and  thus  the  whole  variety  of  organic 
forms,  by  the  inter-action  of  adaptation  and  inheritance,  is  clear 
also  from  several  other  passages.  How  profoundly  he  grasped 
the  mutual  dependence  of  all  living  creatures  on  one  another,  and 
in  general  the  universal  connection  between  cause  and  effect — that  is, 
the  monistic  causal  connection  between  all  members  and  parts  of 
the  Universe — is  further  shown,  among  others,  by  the  following- 
remarks  in  his  '  Biology'  : — '  The  living  individual  is  dependent  upon 
the  species,  the  species  upon  the  .fauna,  the  fauna  upon  the  whole 
of  animate  nature,  and  the  latter  upon  the  organism  of  the  earth. 
The  individual  possesses  indeed  a  peculiar  life,  and  so  far  forms 
its  own  world.  But  just  because  its  life  is  limited  it  constitutes 
at  the  same  time  an  organ  in  the  general  organism.  Every  living 
body  exists  in  consequence  of  the  Universe,  but  the  Universe,  on 
the  other  hand,  exists  in  consequence  of  it.'  It  is  self-evident 
that  so  profound  and  clear  a  thinker  as  Treviranus,  in  accordance 
with  this  grand  mechanical  conception  of  the  Universe,  could  not 
admit  for  man  a  privileged  and  exceptional  position  in  Nature, 
but  assumed  his  gradual  development  from  lower  animal  forms. 
And  it  is  equally  self-evident,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  did  not 
admit  a  chasm  between  organic  and  inorganic  nature,  but  main- 
tained the  absolute  unity  of  the  organisation  of  the  whole 
Universe."  1 


Again,  Oken,  who  was  perhaps  the  most  eminent  of 
the  German  Nature-philosophers,  says  in  his  "  Outlines 
of  the  Philosophy  of  Nature,"  "Life  originates  from 
original  slime."  ..."  Every  organic  thing  has  arisen 
out  of  slime,  and  is  nothing  but  slime  in  different  forms. 
This  primitive  slime  originated  in  the  sea,  from  inorganic 
matter  in  the  course  of  planetary  evolution."  ..."  Man 
has  been  developed,  not  created."  Neither  Oken,  nor 
Goethe,  nor  Treviranus  would  admit  that  man  occupied 
any  privileged  or  exceptional  position  in  Nature,  or  in 
any  way  differed  from  the  rest  of  the  organic  world,  in 
the  processes  of  gradual  development  from  lower  to 
higher  forms.  Even  in  their  day,  when  biology  was 
almost  an  unknown  science,  they  saw  no  justification  for 
such  an  assumption,  opposed  as  it  was  to  every  fact 
within  their  knowledge,  and  to  all  rational  and 
philosophical  thought  upon  the  subject.  Man  is  no 
exception  to  the  general  law  of  development;  he,  like 
the  rest  of  the  living  world,  has  come  up  from  that  slime, 

3  Haeckel's  <c  History  of  Creation,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  94,  95. 

c 


34  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  071  Religions 

which  all  the  foremost  biologists,  as  well  as  the  great 
majority  of  scientists  and  thinkers,  are  now  agreed  is  the 
origin  of  every  living  thing  in  existence. 

It  is  perhaps  not  particularly  gratifying  to  our  vanity 
to  have  to  claim  kinship  with  the  animals.  For  my 
part,  however,  I  see  nothing  humiliating  in  the  fact 
that  the  superior  powers  possessed  by  human  beings 
have  been  acquired  by  a  series  of  gradations  from  lower 
to  higher  forms.  The  question  as  to  whether  man  owes 
his  superiority  to  this  law  or  to  that  is  not  one  in  which, 
as  it  seems,  his  dignity  is  involved.  What  does  it 
matter  to  him  whether  his  hand,  for  instance,  which  is 
one  of  the  most  important  and  characteristic  organs,  has 
been  brought  to  its  present  useful  state  by  a  long,  slow 
process  of  natural  development  from  less  perfect  forms,  or 
has  been  made,  by  a  single  act  of  creation,  in  its  present 
perfect  condition  ?  The  usefulness  and  value  of  his 
hand  are  the  same  in  either  case.  A  certain  result  is 
arrived  at,  and  that  result  is  not  affected  by  the 
supposition  that  it  has  been  through  this  process  or 
through  that. 

Take,  again,  the  mind,  which  is,  of  course,  the  crowning 
glory  and  distinction  of  man.  It  is  a  well-established 
fact  in  mental  physiology  that  the  quality  and  power  of 
the  intellect  are  due  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
brain  substance.  How  is  man's  dignity,  then,  concerned 
in  the  question  as  to  whether  that  material  substance 
has  been  brought  to  its  present  condition  of  complex 
structure  by  slow  degrees,  from  lower  and  less  perfect 
forms  of  brain,  or  was  made  as  it  is  by  a  special  act  of 
creation?  The  quality  and  usefulness  of  mind  are  the 
same  on  either  supposition.  What  he  is  affected  by  is 
the  character  of  the  result,  and  not  the  process  through 
which  that  result  has  been  obtained.  It  is  a  matter 
over  which  he  has  not  the  slightest  control,  and  it  would 
be  futile  and  childish  to  object  to  a  law  of  Nature,  and 
refuse  to  recognise  it,  because  in  his  ignorance  and 
vanity  he  has  been  accustomed  to  regard  himself  as  the 
special  being  for  whom  all  Nature  has  been  designed 
and  brought  into  existence. 

At   this   period   there   were   a   good    many    eminent 


Organic  Formation  35 

inquirers  in  Germany  into  the  truth  of  organic  evolu- 
tion, by  most  of  whom  it  was  accepted  in  principle. 

In  France  the  great  authority  of  Cuvier  and  the 
verbal  victory  obtained  over  Geoffrey  repressed,  if  it 
did  not  quite  stop,  all  further  study  of  the  mutability 
and  transformation  of  species,  and  with  the  exception  of 
two  great  naturalists,  Naudin  and  Lecoq,  Frenchmen 
remained  for  many  years  blind  followers  of  Cuvier  and 
his  doctrines. 

The  world  owes  much  to  German  intellect  in  all 
departments  of  human  inquiry  ;  but  perhaps  in  none 
have  the  Germans  done  such  signal  service  to  science 
and  progress  as  in  the  important  field  of  Biology.  And 
yet  for  fifty  years  after  their  great  countryman  Wolff 
published  his  discovery  to  the  world  the  subject  was 
scarcely  mentioned  among  even  the  leading  German 
naturalists.     Haeckel  says  : 

"  As  an  instance  how  utterly  biologists  refrained  fiom  inquiries 
into  the  origin  of  organisms,  and  the  creation  of  the  animal  and 
vegetable  species,  during  this  period  from  1830  to  1859,  I  mention 
from  my  own  experience  the  fact  that  during  all  the  whole  course 
of  my  studies  at  the  university  I  never  heard  a  single  word  on 
these  most  important  and  fundamental  questions  of  biology. 
During  this  time,  from  1852  to  1857,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to 
listen  to  the  most  distinguished  teachers  in  all  branches  of  the 
science  of  organic  nature  ;  but  not  one  of  them  ever  spoke  of 
this  fundamental  point,  or  even  once  alluded  to  the  question  of 
the  origin  of  species.  .  .  .  The  enormous  opposition  which 
Darwin  met  with  when  he  first  took  up  this  question  again  may, 
therefore,  be  understood.  His  attempt  seemed  at  first  to  be 
unsubstantial  and  unsupported  by  previous  labours.  Even  in  1859 
the  entire  problem  of  creation,  the  whole  question  of  the  origin  of 
organism,  was  considered  by  biologists  as  supernatural  and 
transcendental.  Even  in  speculative  philosophy,  in  which  this 
question  should  necessarily  be  approached  from  various  sides,  no 
one  dared  to  take  it  seriously  in  hand."  1 

With  the  advent  of  Charles  Darwin  the  time  had 
arrived  to  fix  for  ever,  on  a  sure  basis  of  scientific 
knowledge,  probably  the  greatest  and  most  important 
truth  ever  discovered  by  the  mind  of  man.  The  labours 
of  all  previous  workers  had  resulted  in  a  large  mass  of 
1  "  Evolution  of  Man,';  vol.  i.,  p.  78. 


36  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

empirical  knowledge  from  which  they  speculatively 
divined,  as  it  were,  the  connected  processes  of  universal 
growth ;  he  raised  it  from  this  empirical  condition,  and 
placed  it  on  an  imperishable  foundation,  by  discovering 
the  natural  law  by  which  Evolution  is  really  proved,  and 
which  brings  it  as  completely  within  the  field  of  know- 
ledge as  is  the  most  exact  of  the  sciences.  He  is  really 
the  Newton  of  the  organic  world,  whose  advent  Kant 
had  declared  some  seventy  years  before  to  be  utterly 
inconceivable,  and  an  impossibility.  In  time,  patient 
inquiry  will,  no  doubt,  discover  other  factors  of 
Evolution. 

"  It  is  quite  certain,"  Kant  said,  "  we  cannot  become  adequately 
acquainted  with  organised  beings,  and  their  inner  possibilities,  by 
purely  mechanical  principles  of  Nature,  and  much  less  are  we  able 
to  explain  them  ;  and  that  this  is  so  much  the  case  that  we  may 
boldly  assert  that  it  is  not  rational  for  man  even  to  enter  upon 
such  speculations,  or  to  expect  that  a  Newton  will  ever  arise 
who,  by  natural  laws  not  ordered  by  design,  can  render  the 
production  of  a  blade  of  grass  intelligible  ;  in  fact,  we  are  com- 
pelled utterly  to  deny  that  it  is  possible  for  man  to  reach  such 
knowledge." 

The  manner  in  which  life  originated  is  still  shrouded 
in  mystery ;  but  the  foremost  biologists  are  agreed  that 
at  a  certain  stage  in  the  condensation  of  the  earth's 
crust  living  matter  arose,  as  the  natural  and  necessary 
result  of  molecular  action.  To  bridge  over  in  thought 
the  apparently  sharply  defined  contrast  between  organic 
and  inorganic  matter — between  living  and  non-living 
matter — is,  to  the  mind  unaccustomed  to  think  over 
and  follow  carefully  the  inconceivably  rapid  motions 
of  atoms  and  molecules,  and  their  marvellously  complex 
chemical  combinations,  an  impossibility. 

While  it  is  unavoidable  in  studying  a  science  to  treat 
it  under  different  divisions,  and  make  use  of  terms 
which  seem  to  imply  breaks  or  divisions  and  starting- 
points  at  each  section,  we  must  constantly  bear  in  mind 
that  in  Nature  there  are  no  such  breaks  or  starting- 
points.  Nor  even  between  the  sciences  themselves  are 
there  any  such  natural  divisions.  They  are  necessitated 
by   the   limited   faculties   of  man.      If  we  could  view 


Organic  Formation  37 

Nature  as  a  whole,  instead  of  only  in  minute  parts — 
if,  for  example,  we  could  realise  a  mental  picture  of  the 
entire  existence  of  the  earth,  from  its  nebulous  state  to 
its  present  multiform  condition,  we  should  see  the  inter- 
dependence of  all  its  parts,  bound  together  by  a  con- 
tinuous chain  of  cause  and  effect  running  through  the 
whole  series,  from  primitive  chaos  up  to  man. 

If  the  minds  of  all  the  human  units  that  ever  existed 
could  be  collected  into  one  volume  of  intellectual  power, 
it  would  probably  be  unable  to  realise  such  a  picture  of 
our  planet's  life  even.  What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  the 
Universe — of  that  part  only  which  is  within  our  ken  ? 
A  faint  conception  of  the  stupendous  picture  may  be 
obtained,  if  we  consider  that,  if  it  were  possible  to 
annihilate  our  earth,  blot  it  out  of  existence,  the  void 
created  would  not  be  so  great  in  regard  to  the  known 
Universe  as  the  void  which  would  be  caused  by  the 
annihilation  of  the  smallest  particle  of  sand  in  regard  to 
the  earth  !  The  proportion  is  greater  between  the  sizes 
of  the  earth  and  the  known  Universe  than  between  the 
sizes  of  a  particle  of  sand  and  the  earth  ! 

Whilst,  however,  we  can  never  hope  to  attain  to  such 
results,  we  can  follow  in  thought  the  processes  of  evolu- 
tionary law,  by  which  living  substances  arise — by  which, 
that  is,  the  property  we  call  "life"  results  from  the 
complex  arrangements  of  molecular  action  ;  as  the 
various  other  properties  of  matter  arise  from  the  com- 
plex chemical  arrangements  of  molecules,  producing 
results  altogether  unlike  in  properties  to  those  possessed 
by  the  constituent  parts  before  combination  takes  place. 
In  this  train  of  thought  lies  the  theoretical  solution  of 
the  problem,  which  has  puzzled,  and  still  puzzles,  the 
heads  of  so  many  acute  writers  and  thinkers. 

The  phrase,  "  Spontaneous  generation,"  has  tended 
somewhat  to  obscure  the  subject,  and  helped  to  prevent 
an  adequate  conception  of  the  natural  processes  by 
which  the  apparent  gulf  between  living  and  non-living 
matter  is  bridged.  It  seems  to  imply  an  arbitrary,  an 
altogether  unaccountable,  effort  of  Nature,  divorced  from 
natural  law,  an  effect  for  which  there  is  no  cause.  In 
this  sense  there  is  nothing  spontaneous  in  Nature. 


38  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

We  mix  hydrogen  with  oxygen  in  certain  propor- 
tions, and  the  result  is  water — a  substance  which  bears 
no  resemblance  whatever  to  either  hydrogen  or  oxygen, 
and  which  contains  properties  previously,  so  far  as  we 
know,  non-existent  in  the  constituents  ;  and  so  on  with 
a  multitude  of  substances,  all  of  which  are  familiar  know- 
ledge. Now,  what  do  we  know  of  the  real  nature  of 
these  marvellous  changes  wrought  by  molecular  arrange- 
ment and  rearrangement  ?  We  know  the  mechanical 
how,  but  absolutely  nothing  of  the  causing  why  ;  nor  do 
we  inquire  further.  The  ultimate  rationale  is  reached 
when  we  have  traced  the  effects  to  their  efficient 
mechanical  causes. 

It  is  sufficient  for  us,  at  least  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge,  to  know  that  certain  combinations 
always  and  inevitably  produce  similar  results  ;  and  this 
is  the  fundamental  basis  of  all  human  knowledge.  To 
the  powers  and  inherent  tendencies  of  the  molecules, 
by  which  the  transformations  are  brought  about,  we 
never  think  of  applying  the  term  "spontaneous,"  because 
having  reached  the  physical  processes  producing  the 
results  referred  to  we  are  supposed  to  know,  and  are 
content  to  accept  this  as  the  most  certain  and  ultimate 
analysis  of  all  possible  science. 

We  have  now  to  inquire  if  living  matter  in  any  form 
can  be  traced  to  arrangement  and  rearrangement  of 
molecules,  however  complex  ;  if  what  we  know  as  "  life  " 
in  protoplasmic  matter  can  be  shown  to  result  from 
molecular  action  in  chemical  combinations. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  perfectly  structureless  and 
homogeneous  substance,  called  protoplasm,  is  endowed 
with  life,  and  that  this  undifferentiated,  slimy  substance 
is  capable  of  motion,  external  and  internal.  A  small 
mass,  lying  in  a  quiescent  state,  may  be  observed  all  at 
once  to  shoot  out  very  thin,  thread-like  feelers  in  all 
directions,  which,  as  soon  as  they  come  into  contact  with 
suitable  material,  close  round  and  draw  it  into  the  main 
body,  which  then  closes  over  it,  extemporises,  as  it 
were,  a  stomach,  and  feeds  on  the  matter  thus  secured. 

This  slimy,  structureless  matter  is  the  basis  of  all 
terrestrial  life,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  and  is  the 


Organic  Formation  39 


same  in  both.  But  for  the  fact  of  this  "  primeval  slime  " 
possessing  life,  we  might  class  it  with  inorganic  sub- 
stances, since  it  possesses  none  of  those  characteristics 
of  structure  which  we  are  accustomed  to  call  organic. 
Since,  however,  it  is  known  to  possess  vital  functions, 
and  is  always  present  in  all  organisms  "  as  the  essential 
and  never-failing  seat  of  the  phenomena  of  life,"  we 
must  assign  it  to  the  organic,  and  not  to  the  inorganic, 
kingdom. 

The  question  is,  How  is  this  shapeless,  structureless, 
unorganised  substance  produced  ?  By  what  natural 
processes  has  it  arisen  from  the  inorganic?  Or  rather, 
how  has  it  acquired  the  properties  of  "  life  "  ? 

We  know  that  the  plant  can  elaborate  protoplasm 
from  mineral  substances.  It  lies  in  a  bath,  as  it  were,  of 
its  own  food,  and  from  this  inorganic  matter  imbibes 
minute  particles  over  the  whole  surface,  which  are 
converted  into  protoplasm,  probably  by  the  molecular 
arrangement  imparted  to  them  by  the  molecular  action 
of  the  plant.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  know  for  a  certainty 
that  the  plant's  inorganic  food,  derived  from  the  atmo- 
sphere and  earth,  is  converted  into  living  matter,  and 
that  through  this  means  the  animal  world  is  supplied 
with  food. 

No  animal  can  live  on  mineral  substance ;  that  sub- 
stance must  first  be  passed  through  the  vegetable,  in 
which  it  acquires  properties  fitting  it  for  the  food  of 
animals.  The  plant,  in  fact,  is  nothing  more  than 
mineral  substances  converted  into  vegetable  substance 
by  molecular  rearrangement,  which  again,  as  it  passes 
into  the  animal,  is  further  converted  into  animal  sub- 
stance by  another  most  complex  rearrangement  of  the 
molecules.  In  other  words,  all  the  varieties  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life  are  nothing  more  than  mineral 
substances  which  have  undergone  infinite  varieties  of 
molecular  arrangement,  producing,  as  a  consequence, 
all  the  varieties  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms. 

Nature's  laboratory  is  probably  continually  producing 
this  subtle,  naked,  formless,  living  matter,  and  exem- 
plifying the  saying  of  the  ancient  Greek  philosopher, 
that  "  everything  is  ready  to  burst  into  life."     Not  only 


40  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

is  it  elaborated  from  inorganic  matter  by  vegetables,  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  comes  into  existence 
without  the  intervention  of  other  living  organisms,  direct 
from  mineral  substance.  Haeckel  discovered  it  in  the 
shape  of  small  specks,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
Monera. 

The  largest  of  these  minute  "creatures  of  primeval 
slime "  are  about  the  size  of  a  pin's  head,  and  are  the 
most  simple  of  all  organisms.  They  are,  in  fact,  "  organ- 
isms without  organs"  for,  although  they  are  capable  of 
performing  some  of  the  functions  of  organised  creatures 
of  primitive  structure,  they  are  themselves  utterly 
destitute  of  anything  like  organs,  and  are  nothing  more 
than  little  lumps  of  irregular,  homogeneous  protoplasm, 
or  slime. 

The  Moneron  is  the  connecting  link  between  organic 
and  inorganic  nature,  and  as  such  it  is  of  the  very 
greatest  importance  to  the  doctrine  of  Evolution.  That 
it  comes  into  existence  by  chemical  arrangement  and 
rearrangement  of  the  molecules,  of  almost  infinite 
complexity,  is,  it  seems,  a  postulate,  which  is 
necessitated  by  the  condition  of  evolutionary  thought. 
To  prove  or  disprove  what  is  called  spontaneous  gener- 
ation is,  it  appears,  in  the  present  state  of  science,  an 
impossibility. 

We  shall  not  find  it  impossible  to  follow,  in  thought, 
at  least,  the  origin  of  the  property  of  life  from  chemical 
combination  of  molecules,  if  we  consider  that  in  all  such 
combinations  we  get  properties  and  results  which  are 
just  as  mysterious  and  inexplicable  as  the  property  we 
call  "  life  "  in  its  simplest  form.  We  cannot  explain 
why,  to  use  our  former  illustration,  eight  of  oxygen 
and  one  of  hydrogen,  by  weight,  when  mixed,  should 
produce  water — a  substance  so  utterly  unlike  the  parts 
composing  it.  All  that  we  know  is  that  these  sub- 
stances are  endowed  with  properties  which  never  fail 
to  produce  water  when  mixed  in  the  given  pro- 
portions ;  and  deeper  into  the  why  or  wherefore 
we  cannot  go. 

The    never-failing    mechanical    law   is   the    ultimate 
analysis  of  our  knowledge  on  the  subject.     And  it  is  no 


Organic  Formation  41 

more  reasonable  to  look  beyond  the  physical  action  of 
molecular  arrangements  which  produce  life  for  some 
other  and  special  force  or  creative  act,  than  it  would  be 
to  look  for  such  special  creative  acts  in  the  mechanical 
molecular  arrangements  which  produce  other  equally 
inexplicable  properties  of  chemical  compounds. 

Dr.  Bastian  says,  in  p.  viii.  of  the  preface  to  his 
"  Beginnings  of  Life  "  : 

"  We  know  that  the  molecules  of  elementary  or  mineral  sub- 
stances combine  to  form  acids  and  bases  by  virtue  of  their  own 
'  inherent '  tendencies  ;  that  these  acids  and  bases  unite  so  as  to 
produce  salts,  which,  in  their  turn,  will  often  again  combine  and 
give  rise  to  'double  salts.'  And  at  each  stage  of  this  series  of 
ascending  molecular  complexities,  we  find  the  products  endowed 
with  properties  wholly  different  from  those  of  their  constituents. 
Similarly,  amongst  the  carbon  compounds  there  is  abundance  of 
evidence  to  prove  the  existence  of  internal  tendencies  or  mole- 
cular properties,  which  may  and  do  lead  to  the  evolution  of  more 
and  more  complex  chemical  compounds.  And  it  is  such  synthetic 
processes,  occurring  amongst  the  molecules  of  colloidal  and  allied 
substances,  which  seem  so  often  to  engender  or  give  '  origin  '  to  a 
kind  of  matter  possessing  that  subtle  combination  of  properties  to 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  apply  the  epithet  '  living.'  .  .  . 
Both  crystalline  and  living  aggregates  appear  to  be  constantly 
separating  de  novo  from  different  fluids,  and  both  kinds  of  matter 
now  seem  to  be  naturally  formable  from  their  elements." 

And  again,  a  little  farther  on,  he  says  : 

"  Our  experimental  evidence,  therefore,  merely  goes  to  prove 
that  such  an  elemental  origin  of  living  matter  is  continually  taking 
place  at  the  present  day — that  it  still  comes  into  being,  in  fact,  by 
the  operation  of  the  same  laws,  and  in  the  same  manner,  as  the 
majority  of  scientific  men  and  a  large  section  of  the  educated  public 
believe  that  it  must  have  originated  in  early  days  of  the  earth's 
history — when  '  living '  compounds  first  began  to  appear  upon  the 
cooling  surface  of  our  planet.  And  if  such  synthetic  processes  took 
place  then,  why  should  they  not  take  place  now  ?  Why  should  the 
inherent  molecular  properties  of  various  kinds  of  matter  have  under- 
gone so  much  alteration  ?  Why  should  these  particular  processes 
of  synthesis  now  be  impossible,  although  other  processes  of  a 
similar  nature  still  go  on  ?  *  x 

The  experiments  which  have  been  made  since   this 
1  On  this  subject,  see  Bastian's  "Beginnings  of  Life.'' 


42  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

was  written  have  not  resulted  in  any  confirmatory 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  spontaneous  generation,  nor,  on 
the  other  hand,  have  they  produced  any  decisive  evidence 
against  the  theory. 

The  birth,  so  to  speak,  of  primitive  life  has,  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  gone  on  without  interruption  for 
immeasurable  ages — since,  in  fact,  the  earth  first  attained 
to  the  conditions  favourable  or  suitable  for  its  existence. 
Protoplasmic  birth  and  death  are  probably  as  common 
to-day  as  birth  and  death  among  all  the  higher  forms  of 
life.  In  every  instant  of  time,  particles  of  matter  by 
their  own  inherent  properties  or  powers — call  them  what 
you  will — are  arranging  themselves  in  such  manner  as 
to  produce  the  properties  of  "  life  "  ;  and  in  every  instant 
of  time  they  are  losing  those  properties  by  a  rearrange- 
ment or  dissolution  of  the  molecules,  necessitated  by  the 
external  conditions  acting  upon  them.  While,  however, 
as  we  assume,  throughout  the  world,  life  in  its  primitive 
state  is  continually  arising  and  dying,  many  of  the  little 
gelatinous  specks  live,  and  begin  to  take  on  the  first  form 
of  organic  structure  in  the  shape  of  what  is  called  a 
cell. 

This  cell  is  a  tiny  kernel,  and  forms,  as  it  were,  the 
building  material  of  the  whole  of  organic  nature.  It  is 
to  the  animal  and  the  plant  what  the  brick  is  to  the 
house,  and  as  the  latter  is  formed  by  adding  brick  to 
brick,  so  are  the  former  formed  by  adding  cell  to  cell ; 
and  the  most  elaborate  and  complex  organic  structure 
is  nothing  but  an  infinite  conglomeration  of  cells  alone. 

The  Cellular  theory  marked  an  epoch  in  the  science 
of  Biology.  It  was  established  about  fifty-three  years 
ago  by  Schleiden  and  Schwann.  Previous  to  this  most 
important  discovery,  it  was  believed  that  the  germ  of 
every  creature  contained  the  entire  organs  and  parts 
folded  up  in  it,  and  that  growth  to  maturity  was  a 
process,  as  we  have  said,  of  unfolding  or  evolution 
according  to  the  etymological  meaning  of  the  word. 
The  truth  is  something  quite  different.  The  cell  is  the 
constructive  unit  of  the  individual,  and  is  an  independent 
living  organism  of  the  most  primitive  order.  Every 
creature,  even   man   himself,  is   nothing   more  than  a 


Organic  Formation  43 

community  of  these  cells  ;  and  the  vital  phenomena  of 
every  organism  are  the  collective  result  of  the  vital 
phenomena  of  the  cells  composing  it.  Cell  formation 
and  growth  is  a  long  and  complex  study  in  itself,  and 
we  cannot  do  more  than  mention  the  bare  facts  of  the 
theory  without  entering  into  any  detail  or  description 
whatsoever.  Those  who  wish  to  understand  the  subject 
must  consult  the  works  of  Haeckel,  Huxley,  Ray 
Lankester,  and  others.  It  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose 
to  know  that  animal  and  vegetable  growth  is  by  the 
addition  of  cell  to  cell,  and  that  this  is  the  universal 
process.  Between  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  cells 
there  are  certain  differences  of  structure,  which,  however 
important,  we  cannot  enter  into  here. 

The  construction  of  the  organic  pedigree  from  pro- 
toplasmic life  is  a  work  of  stupendous  magnitude,  and, 
indeed,  before  the  whole  pedigree  is  complete  in  all  its 
parts,  we  must  await  further  research  and  discovery. 
Few  transitional  forms  have  as  yet  been  found,  and 
many  may  never  come  to  light ;  but  sufficient  is  known 
to  enable  us  to  construct  in  outline  the  descent  and 
connection  of  the  main  divisions  of  the  entire  series. 
Perhaps  it  is  assuming  too  much  to  put  it  in  this  way, 
for  I  do  not  suppose  anyone  expects  or  hopes  that  the 
genealogical  tree  of  Nature  will  ever  be  complete ;  and 
we  might  even  go  the  length  of  saying  that  it  is  quite 
an  impossibility. 

Many  of  the  lower  forms  of  animals  have  entirely 
disappeared,  owing,  among  other  things,  to  an  in- 
sufficient stability  of  structure  for  preservation  in  the 
strata  of  the  earth ;  and  even  among  the  higher  forms 
it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  the  labours  of  man 
will  ever  succeed  in  unearthing  all  the  multitudinous 
species,  scattered  as  they  are  throughout  the  crust  of 
the  globe  to  a  depth  of  many  thousands  of  feet,  even 
if  they  are  all  preserved,  which  is  more  than  doubtful. 
But  this  is  no  barrier  to  the  proof  of  the  doctrine  of 
descent.  For  example,  though  we  may  never  find  the 
missing  link  connecting  man  with  the  Anthropoid  apes, 
the  proofs  of  their  common  origin  are  so  many  and  so 
overwhelming  that  no  zoologist  of  reputation  has  any 


44  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

doubt  upon  the  subject ;  and  it  is  scarcely  an  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  however  interesting  such  a  discovery 
would  prove  to  mankind  in  general,  and  to  evolutionists 
in  particular,  the  confirmatory  evidence  to  the  latter  is 
so  strong  as  to  be  entirely  independent  of  it.  (See 
Huxley's  "  Man's  Place  in  Nature "  and  Haeckel's 
"  Evolution  of  Man.") 

The  views  of  Darwin  and  Lyell  exactly  coincide  on 
the  subject  of  these  geological  records.     Darwin  says  : 

"  I  look  at  the  geological  record  as  a  history  of  the  world  im- 
perfectly kept,  and  written  in  a  changing  dialect ;  of  this  history 
we  possess  the  last  volume  alone,  relating  only  to  two  or  three 
countries.  Of  this  volume,  only  here  and  there  a  short  chapter 
has  been  preserved  ;  and  of  each  page,  only  here  and  there  a  few 
lines.  Each  word  of  the  slowly-changing  language,  more  or  less 
different  in  the  successive  chapters,  may  represent  the  forms  of 
life  which  are  entombed  in  our  consecutive  formations,  and  which 
falsely  appear  to  us  to  have  been  abruptly  introduced.  On  this 
view,  the  difficulties  above  discussed  are  greatly  diminished,  or 
even  disappear."  1 

We  have  endeavoured  to  indicate  briefly,  and  necess- 
arily very  vaguely,  the  natural  processes  by  which  slimy 
matter  containing  the  properties  of  life,  is,  we  think, 
continuously  being  evolved  from  inorganic  matter,  viz., 
by  chemical  combination  of  molecules.  Those  who 
wish  to  pursue  this  subject  further  must  study  the  works 
of  biologists.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  merely  state 
the  facts  ;  and  throughout  this  part  we  profess  to  do 
nothing  more  than  give  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by 
the  observations  and  researches  of  scientific  men. 

Whilst  the  mechanical  processes  of  the  origin  of  life 
are  conceivable,  the  real  mystery  remains  untouched, 
and  apparently  insoluble.  Why  certain  kinds  of 
albuminous  matter  should  arrange  themselves  by  their 
own  inherent  powers,  under  the  persistence  of  force,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  rise  to  "  life  "  is  quite  unknown 
to  us,  and  no  scientist  pretends  to  offer  the  slightest 
explanation  of  it. 

This  cannot  be  too  distinctly  stated,  in  view  of  the 
charges  continually  brought  against  men  of  science  of 
3   "  Origin  of  Species,"  6th  edition,  p.  289. 


Organic  Formation  45 

pretending  to  knowledge  inscrutable  to  man.  It  is 
sufficient  for  him  to  know  the  mechanical  processes, 
without  troubling  himself  about  the  underlying  and 
unknowable  final  cause.  It  is  the  man  who  is  ignorant 
of  natural  laws  who  pretends  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
unknowable,  and  solves,  without  the  slightest  misgiving, 
the  problem  which  to  the  developed  and  informed  mind 
is  absolutely  unthinkable  and  inconceivable. 

The  man  of  mediocre  intellect  and  meagre  knowledge 
sees  no  difficulty  in  accounting  for  all  things,  by  attribut- 
ing them  to  the  work  of  a  man-like  being,  magnified,  it 
may  be,  a  thousand  or  a  million-fold.  The  one  sees 
clearly  that  no  power  conceivable  by  him  could  account 
for  the  simplest  thing  in  Nature,  and  recognises  the 
futility  of  evolving  from  his  own  ignorance  a  meaningless 
explanation.  The  other,  ignorant  alike  of  the  terms  and 
the  difficulties  of  the  problem,  sees  no  mystery,  and 
thinks  a  perfectly  satisfactory  solution  is  reached  by  pro- 
jecting his  own  finite  nature  and  attributes  into  an 
imaginary  being  whom  he  calls  God.  It  is  useless  to 
explain  to  him  the  fallacies  underlying  all  such  assump- 
tions and  "  explanations."  He  is  in  the  position  of  De 
Morgan's  correspondent,  who  announced  to  the  great 
mathematician  that  he  had  squared  the  circle — incap- 
able of  understanding  the  reasoning  by  which  the  fallacy 
is  exposed. 

Leaving  to  the  theologians,  then,  the  knowledge  and 
explanation  of  final  causes,  our  business  is  with  pheno- 
mena only,  i.e.,  natural  law  as  it  is  seen  in  active  operation 
around  us  ;  with  the  causal  how,  and  not  the  teleological 
why. 

Returning  to  the  primeval  protoplasmic  life,  we  found 
the  Moneron  to  be  a  structureless  little  mass  of  living 
matter,  and  the  ancestor  of  every  living  form  in  exist- 
ence, animal  and  vegetal.  By  the  never-ceasing  opera- 
tion of  the  inherited  activities  residing  in  these  minute 
creatures,  and  the  external  conditions  to  which  they  are 
exposed  (Heredity  and  Adaptation;,  the  vast  unnum- 
bered species  of  animals  have  slowly  and  gradually 
arisen,  through  a  period  of  time  so  vast  that,  to  our 
limited  faculties,  it  may  well  be  called  infinite. 


46  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  life,  it  is  impossible  to  say 
whether  these  microscopic  creatures  should  be  classed  as 
plants  or  as  animals,  since  they  partake  of  the  characters 
of  both.  This  intermediate  kingdom  Haeckel  calls  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Primary  Creatures  (Protista).  There 
are  many  known  kinds  of  protista,  and  many  more  yet 
undiscovered.  Haeckel  has  described  eight  classes  of 
these  ambiguous  organisms,  the  lowest  of  which  is  the 
Moneron.  They  are  found  in  the  sea,  in  fresh  water, 
and  on  land.  .  Some  possess  the  power  of  locomotion  ; 
some  are  incapable  of  movement,  and  are  attached  to 
stones,  shells,  plants,  etc.  Naturalists  are  agreed  that 
many  organisms,  which  they  decidedly  class  as  plants, 
are  capable  of  locomotion,  while  others,  which  they  class 
as  animals,  are  not ;  so  that  this  is  no  test  as  to  which 
kingdom  they  belong.  The  method  of  propagation  of 
these  primitive  forms  of  life  is  by  division  into  two  parts  ; 
there  are  no  sexes.1 

Next  to  the  Moneron  in  importance  comes  the 
Amoeba,  in  the  scale  of  descent.  The  latter  has  grown 
out  of  the  former,  and  has  developed  a  cell,  or  the 
differentiation  of  an  inner  kernel,  from  the  surrounding 
plasma.  This  cell  is  an  independent  individual,  and  is 
as  distinctly  a  living  creature  as  man  himself.  It  is  the 
raw  material  of  every  organism,  which  it  builds  up  by 
the  power  it  possesses  of  unlimited  multiplication,  in 
dividing  itself,  as  it  grows  in  size,  by  the  matter  it  imbibes 
and  feeds  on.  The  subject  is  most  complex  and  interest- 
ing ;  but  the  reader,  if  he  wishes  to  understand  it,  must 
study  the  technical  writings  on  the  subject. 

Before  we  can  appreciate  the  mechanical  or  physical 
processes  of  growth,  we  must  thoroughly  grasp  the  full 
meaning  and  significance  of  the  Persistence  of  Force  ;  for 
unless  we  can  do  this  we  shall  utterly  fail  to  realise  any 
mental  picture  of  Nature's  manner  of  working ;  and,  in 
fact,  the  whole  subject  will  be  meaningless  to  us. 

Force  is  universal,  and  is  an  inseparable  property  of 

matter,  without  which  the  very  conception  of  existence 

in  any  shape  becomes  an  impossibility.     This  force  is 

the  basis  of,  and  underlies,  all  things ;  and  the  motions  it 

1  See  Haeckel's  "  History  of  Creation,"  vol.  i.,  p.  92. 


Organic  Formation  47 

imparts  to  the  molecules  composing  a  cell  persist  in  that 
cell,  and  are  inherited  by  all  the  cells  that  grow  from  it 
This  inherited  power  or  activity  is  surrounded  by  a 
variety  of  external  forces,  and  the  growth  of  every 
organism  is  the  result  of  the  combined  action  of  these 
forces  (heredity  and  adaptation). 

The  inherited  molecular  motion,  however,  shapes  the 
general  characters  constituting  the  creature,  whatever 
may  be  the  nature  of  the  environment,  unless,  indeed,  it 
be  such  as  to  destroy  life.  But  in  the  course  of  long  ages 
the  external  conditions  may,  and  do,  modify  the  inherited 
tendency  to  develop  on  a  precise  and  particular  model ; 
and  these  deviations,  imperceptibly  small,  it  may  be,  at 
first,  being  inherited  by  the  offspring,  become  so  great  in 
the  course  of  long  ages  that  entirely  new  species  are 
produced.  "  Adaptation,  through  practice  and  habit,  to 
the  changing  external  conditions  of  life  has  ever  been 
the  cause  of  changes  in  the  nature  of  organic  species ; 
and  heredity  caused  the  transmission  of  these  modifica- 
tions to  their  descendants."1 

The  chief  difficulty  in  realising  this  great  truth  is  in 
our  inability,  as  a  rule,  to  make  due  allowance  for  length 
of  time.  We  are  so  apt  to  couple  the  infinitesimal  span 
of  our  own  lives  with  all  our  thoughts  of  time,  and  to 
make  the  few  years  of  our  existence  the  measure  of  all 
things  in  Nature,  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  subordinate 
the  limited  personal  experience  to  the  almost  unlimited 
ages  required  by  evolutionary  changes. 

Time,  though  of  great  consequence  in  the  life  and 
well-being  of  man,  is  of  no  importance  to  Nature.  Her 
circle  of  operations  completed  in  any  department,  she 
begins  anew  ;  or  rather,  she  continuously  travels  round 
the  circle,  without  beginning  or  end.  The  individual 
organism  being  ended,  the  material  is  again  served  up 
for  consumption  to  the  living  world,  either  as  raw 
material  or  as  dead  protoplasm,  the  former  supplying 
the  vegetable,  the  latter  the  animal  kingdom ;  and 
so  on,  without  break  or  end,  from  the  imperceptible  to 
the  phenomenal,  from  the  phenomenal  back  to  the 
imperceptible. 

1  "Evolution  of  Man,"  vol.  i.,  p.  85. 


48  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

The  unthinking  opponents  of  evolution  are  continually 
asking  for  data  from  human  history  ;  and  finding  that 
human  history  can  supply  none,  they  have  no  alternative 
but  to  reject  the  theory,  as  incompatible  with  all  that 
lies  within  the  range  of  their  knowledge.  The  longest 
periods  of  history  furnish  us  with  little  or  no  evidence 
of  the  changes  which  evolution  supposes,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  records  of  civilised  man  embrace 
but  a  mere  fraction  of  the  time  required  by  Nature 
to  work  any  specific  and  decided  change.  But  whilst 
direct  evidence  from  ordinary  historical  experience 
fails  us,  palaeontology  comes  to  our  aid,  and  supplies  us 
with  the  materials  necessary  for  tracing  back  the  history 
of  the  changes  to  the  remotest  secular  times. 

This  evidence  is  written  in  the  Book  of  Nature,  which 
cannot  lie,  and  in  characters  which  cannot  deceive  us. 
All  mere  written  records  of  experience  are  full  of  mis- 
representation of  various  kinds  :  some  directly  due  to 
wilfully  false  statements  ;  others  to  the  ambiguity  and 
ever-changing  meaning  of  language,  to  the  personal 
standpoint  of  each  individual  narrator,  to  the  continuous 
changes  in  customs,  thought,  feelings,  and  a  variety  of 
other  causes ;  but  in  the  great  Book  of  Nature  lie 
embedded  the  permanent  and,  to  us,  unchanging  records 
of  her  long  history,  the  same  to-day  as  they  were 
thousands  of  years  ago,  and  will  be  thousands  of  years 
hence,  when  the  patient  student  will  still  be  reverently 
turning  her  leaves  in  pursuit  of  that  knowledge  and 
truth  which  she  alone  contains,  and  which  she  alone  can 
unfold  to  man. 

i(  To  the  solid  ground  of  Nature 
Trusts  the  mind  that  builds  for  aye." 

It  may  be  appropriate  here  to  say  a  few  words  on  the 
law  of  growth.  It  will  assist  us  to  a  better  comprehen- 
sion of  our  subject.  The  late  James  Hinton  formulated 
the  law  of  growth,  as  motion  along  the  lines  of  least 
resistance.  And  this  is  no  doubt  true  of  every  conceiv- 
able form  of  growth  in  the  organic  world.  This  simple, 
though  important  and  suggestive,  generalisation  he  put 
in  the  form  of  a  syllogism,  thus  : 


Organic  Formation  49 


"  Organic  form  is  the  result  of  motion."  "  Motion  takes  the 
direction  of  least  resistance."  "  Therefore  organic  form  is  the 
result  of  motion  in  the  direction  of  least  resistance." 

Illustrating  this  by  plants,  he  says : 

"  The  formation  of  the  root  furnishes  a  beautiful  illustration  of 
the  law  of  least  resistance,  for  it  grows  by  insinuating  itself,  cell 
by  cell,  through  the  interstices  of  the  soil  ;  it  is  by  such  minute 
additions  that  it  increases,  winding  and  twisting  whithersoever 
the  obstacles  it  meets  in  its  path  determine,  and  growing  there 
most  where  the  nutritive  materials  are  added  to  it  most  abun- 
dantly. As  we  look  on  the  roots  of  a  mighty  tree,  it  appears  to  us 
as  if  they  had  enforced  themselves  with  great  violence  into  the 
solid  earth.  But  it  is  not  so  ;  they  were  led  on  gently,  cell  added 
to  cell,  softly  as  the  dews  descended,  and  the  loosened  earth  made 
way.  Once  formed,  indeed,  they  expand  with  enormous  power, 
but  the  spongy  condition  of  the  growing  radicles  utterly  forbids 
the  supposition  that  they  are  forced  into  the  earth.  Is  it  not 
probable,  indeed,  that  the  enlargement  of  the  roots  already  formed 
may  crack  the  surrounding  soil,  and  help  to  make  the  interstices 
into  which  the  new  roots  grow  ? " 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  every  part  of  the  growing 
plant  above  ground :  only  that  instead  of  the  resisting 
medium  being  the  earth,  it  is  the  air.  The  inherited 
inner  constructive  force  of  the  organism  sucks  in  the 
surrounding  matter,  on  which  it  feeds,  converting  it 
into  cells  ;  and  these  being  added  to  the  organism, 
constitute  its  growth  and  enlargement.  This  hereditary 
power  of  growth,  extending  the  parts  in  all  directions, 
is  met  by  the  resistance  of  the  atmosphere ;  and  the 
direction  taken  will  at  all  times  be  that  in  which  the 
least  resistance  is  offered.  It  is  true  certain  allowances 
must  be  made  for  gravity. 

Now,  if  all  organic  forms  are  determined  by  the 
operation  of  these  two  factors  alone,  viz.,  the  trans- 
mitted constructive  internal  force  or  power  of  growth 
and  the  external  conditions,  it  is  certain  that  the  forms 
will  vary  as  the  factors  vary.  The  external  conditions 
of  existence  are  unlimited,  and  consequently  there  are 
no  limits  to  the  variations  of  organic  forms. 

The  morphological  changes  act  upon  the  inherited 
tendency  to  stability  of  structure,  and  produce  therein 


50  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

corresponding  changes,  which  become  fixed  in  the 
organism,  and  are  transmitted  to  descendants.  Between 
the  two  there  is  a  never-ceasing  interaction  ;  one  striving 
to  preserve  the  specific  form,  the  other  to  modify  and 
alter  it.  It  is  inevitable,  therefore,  that  in  the  course  of 
long  ages  many  forms  must  of  necessity  arise  by  the 
constant  interaction  of  these  forces ;  and  that  these 
forms,  whilst  apparently  exhibiting  marks  of  design,  are 
in  reality  the  results  of  purely  mechanical  causes,  the 
principle  of  which  negatives  the  idea  of  all  purpose  or 
design. 

There  is  a  strong  power  in  Nature  to  preserve  what 
once  has  come  into  existence,  and  if  the  external  con- 
ditions never  varied  during  the  life  of  an  organism, 
there  would  be  no  variation  in  the  form,  and  conse- 
quently none  to  transmit  to  the  descendants.  The 
inner  formative  tendencies  are  so  strong  and  persistent 
that  if  they  were  not  met  by  external  forces  varying  in 
character  and  intensity  from  time  to  time,  the  species 
would  be  preserved  in  one  unvarying  form  ;  and,  in 
fact,  neither  the  animal  nor  the  vegetable  world  could 
have  arisen.  It  is  useless  to  ask  for  an  explanation  of 
the  power  of  Nature  thus  to  impart  within  living  matter 
this  strong  tendency  to  preservation  of  uniformity  of 
structure.  There  is  no  explanation,  beyond  the  per- 
sistence of  force,  which  must  be  postulated  as  an 
inseparable  part  or  property  of  matter.  We  cannot 
get  behind  this,  any  more  than  we  can  get  behind 
matter  itself.  We  must  perforce  rest  content  with  the 
phenomenal  fact  of  existence. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PALEONTOLOGY 

PALEONTOLOGY  is  the  science  of  petrifactions  which  are 
found  in  the  different  strata  of  the  earth's  crust ;  and  is, 
perhaps,  the  most  important,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
most  difficult,  branch  of  evolution.  Fossilised  remains 
of  animals  are  embedded  in  every  part  of  the  earth's 
crust,  at  all  depths,  to  thousands  of  feet ;  and  only  occa- 
sionally and  by  chance  are  we  so  fortunate  as  to  come 
upon  any. 

It  is  from  study  of  the  petrified  remains  that  some  of 
the  most  convincing  proofs  of  the  truth  of  organic 
evolution  are  obtained.  As  the  animals  have  died, 
they  have  fallen  through  the  water  into  the  soft  mud, 
and  become  petrified  in  the  hardened  strata.  And,  in 
this  way,  the  different  strata  of  the  earth's  crust  are 
made  to  yield  for  our  information  the  different  species 
existing  at  the  time  of  each  formation.  It  is  true  that 
these  remains  are  of  the  most  imperfect  character;  and 
at  no  period  is  it  possible  to  discover  more  than  a  mere 
fragment  of  the  numerous  kinds  that  must  have  lived 
at  the  time.  But  research  has  only,  as  it  were,  just  begun  ; 
and  we  may  hope,  as  time  goes  on,  that  patient  labour 
will  bring  to  light  more  and  more  of  these  petrified 
remains.  Every  fresh  discovery  helps  to  fill  up  a  gap, 
and  supplies  a  link  in  the  chain  of  descent ;  and  every 
such  discovery  has  afforded  further  confirmatory  evi- 
dence of  the  great  law  of  evolution.  No  facts  have 
come  to  light  in  palaeontology  which  are  not  legitimate 
deductions  from  the  theory  of  descent ;  and  they  all  fit 
in  exactly  with  the  conditions  necessary  and  appro- 
priate to  their  special  period. 

The  geological  record,  owing  to  its  historical  char- 
acter, is  of  the  greatest  importance.     Modern  geology 

5* 


52  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


shows  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  has  been  slowly  and 
gradually  evolved  through  long  ages.  Since  the  time 
when  the  watery  vapour  was  condensed  into  liquid  water, 
there  has  been  going  on  a  continuous  redistribution 
of  land  and  water  all  over  the  surface  of  the  globe. 
Every  foot  of  the  sea  floor  has  been  at  times  dry  land, 
and  every  foot  of  dry  land  has  been  at  times  the  bed  of 
the  ocean.  The  causes  which  have  produced  these  re- 
distributions of  land  and  water  are  going  on  every 
instant  of  time  to-day,  as  they  were  in  the  past.  Every- 
where the  sea  is  either  approaching  towards  or  receding 
from  the  shore ;  and  it  is  literally  correct  to  say  that  the 
outlines  of  seas  and  continents  never  remain  for  a  minute 
of  time  exactly  the  same.  The  floors  of  seas^  are  con- 
tinuously rising  by  deposits,  whilst  dry  land  is  at  the 
same  time  on  the  road  towards  resubmergence,  by  the 
action  of  the  waves,  as  well  as  that  of  rain,  which  washes 
down  the  earth  from  the  highest  mountains. 

We  know  that  in  many  places  the  sea  has  encroached 
many  feet  within  the  lifetime  of  a  man  even.  The  writer 
was  informed  by  an  old  inhabitant  of  Deal  that,  in  his 
early  days,  hay  was  made  on  the  land  between  the  sea 
and  Sandown  Castle— a  space  which  is  now  quite  under 
water.  To  fully  realise  the  great  changes  effected  by 
long  periods  of  time,  we  have  but  to  consider  that,  if 
within  a  century  there  is  a  difference  in  the  rise  and  fall 
of  only  an  inch  or  two,  in  the  course  of  a  few  million 
years  this  would  bring  about  a  complete  redistribution 
of  land  and  water  over  the  entire  globe.  And  in  the 
earth's  history  millions  of  years  are  but  as  days  or  hours 
to  us.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  mountain  masses  that 
are  carried  down  to  the  sea  would  level  the  whole  earth, 
and  the  entire  surface  would  be  covered  with  water, 
were  it  not  for  the  volcanic  action  of  the  fiery  fluid  mass 
in  the  interior. 

This  surging  fluid,  pressing  against  the  hard  crust, 
causes  elevations  and  depressions  which  counteract 
the  levelling  tendencies  of  the  water.  And  for  many 
millions  of  years— since,  in  fact,  earth  and  water  first 
appeared— there  has  been  going  on  an  incessant 
struggle  between  the  two  for  mastery;  now  dry  land, 


Paleontology  5  3 

now  sea,  and  again  dry  land,  and  so  on  perpetually. 
The  formation  of  the  earth's  crust,  and  the  transforma- 
tion of  land  and  water,  are  explained  in  Charles  Lyell's 
"  Principles  of  Geology."  In  the  different  strata  thus 
formed  lie  embedded  the  remains  of  previously  living 
organisms. 

Now,  if  it  be  true  that  the  earth's  crust  has  been 
slowly  and  gradually  formed  during  immense  periods 
of  time,  and  that  the  remains  of  animals  are  found  in 
the  deepest  strata,  the  law  of  descent  would  require  that 
the  deepest  strata  should  contain  the  remains  of  the 
most  imperfectly  developed  organisms  ;  and  that  as  we 
rise  towards  the  surface,  a  proportionate  increase  in 
development,  perfection,  and  variety  of  structures  should 
be  found.  If  life  on  the  earth  began  millions  of  years 
ago,  at  a  time  when  the  conditions  of  condensation  were 
favourable  to  its  production,  and  all  the  multitudinous 
forms  have  been  slowly  evolved  from  structureless  primi- 
tive creatures,  then  it  is  an  inevitable  necessity  that 
progress  in  organic  development  should  go  on  step  by 
step  with  progress  in  inorganic  formation.  And  this 
is  exactly  what  is  found  to  be  the  case.  Of  course,  there 
are  no  petrifactions  of  the  soft,  structureless  organisms 
of  the  early  times,  for  the  simple  reason  that  preservation 
of  such  unstable  masses  was  impossible.  It  is  not  until 
some  stability  of  structure  is  attained  that  we  find 
fossils. 

Regarding  these  fossil  impressions,  even  as  far  back 
as  five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  Xenophanes  of 
Colophon  declared  them  to  be  remains  of  previously 
existing  living  creatures;  and  though  other  great 
teachers  of  mankind  have  from  time  to  time  regarded 
them  in  the  same  light,  they  have,  until  the  present 
century,  been  rejected  or  disregarded  by  the  majority 
of  scientists. 

It  was  chiefly  in  order  to  account  for  these  petrifac- 
tions that  Cuvier  invented  his  series  of  Creations, 
following  upon  what  he  believed  to  be  great  catastrophes 
of  Nature,  in  which  whole  species  of  animals  were 
destroyed.  Cuvier  was  far  too  great  a  man  to  give  any 
countenance  to  the  crude  notions  entertained  by  many 


54  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

respecting  these  important  evidences  of  creation.  His 
theory  that  from  time  to  time  great  cataclysms  had 
occurred,  which  had  destroyed  whole  species,  and  that 
the  Creator  had,  at  such  periods,  created  entirely  new 
species,  accounting  for  the  petrified  remains  of  different 
species,  appearing  at  different  depths  of  the  earth's 
crust,  was  put  forward,  no  doubt,  to  save  the  Biblical 
narrative  of  creation.  But  when  Lyell  published  his 
great  work,  in  which  he  showed  how  the  earth's  crust 
has  been  slowly  formed  by  imperceptible  degrees, 
Cuvier's  theory  was  no  longer  tenable,  and  by  common 
consent  has  long  been  abandoned  for  the  true  one. 

To  preserve  the  Mosaic  account,  the  most  incredible 
theories  have  found  favour  from  time  to  time.  Many 
believed  that  fossil  remains  of  animals  were  simply 
"  freaks  of  Nature,"  whatever  that  might  mean.  That 
Nature  should  resort  to  such  "  freaks "  as  forming  in 
the  solid  layers  of  rocks  the  various  parts  of  animals,  is 
surely  too  far-fetched  for  even  the  most  uninformed  and 
credulous  minds.  Others  believed  that  they  were 
models  made  by  the  Creator  in  inorganic  substances, 
and  afterwards  executed  in  organic  substance, 
into  which  he  breathed  the  breath  of  life.  Others, 
again,  held  the  still  more  absurd  and  crude  notion  that 
there  existed  in  Nature  a  special  "  seminal  air,"  which, 
penetrating  into  the  earth  with  water,  fructified  the 
stone,  and  produced  a  kind  of  "stony  flesh."  Every 
explanation  which,  however  remotely,  seemed  to  agree 
with  the  Bible,  was  received  and  tenaciously  held  on  to, 
until  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  if  not  more  accur- 
ate knowledge,  eventually  asserted  itself,  and  rendered 
the  continued  acceptance  of  such  explanations  an 
impossibility. 

Cuvier's  theory  of  catastrophes  and  new  creations 
could  not  be  refuted  scientifically,  so  long  as  the  true 
processses  of  formation  of  the  earth's  crust  were  un- 
known. But  the  moment  it  was  proved  that  the 
stratified  rocks  were  the  results  of  millions  of  years  of 
slow  and  gradual  deposits  of  soft  mud,  the  true  nature 
of  organic  petrifactions  became  obvious,  and  no  amount 
of  ecclesiastical  or  other  opposition  could   prevent  the 


Paleontology  5  5 


spread  of  the  great  truth.  It  was  no  longer  any  use  to 
talk  of  "  freaks  of  Nature/'  "  seminal  air,"  "  rude  models," 
etc. ;  the  advance  of  knowledge,  and  the  consequent 
refutation  of  uninformed  dogmatic  assertions,  produced  a 
revolution  in  public  thought,  and  such  crude  notions 
could  no  longer  be  tolerated. 

The  progress  of  knowledge  brings  about  those 
gradual  changes  which  eventually  kill  every  untruth; 
but  the  death  is  always  slow  and  imperceptible.  No- 
thing surely  could  possibly  be  more  grotesque  than  to 
imagine  the  Creator  of  the  Universe  working  on  this 
tiny  speck  of  earth  like  a  mere  man,  modelling  his 
creatures  in  clay  to  see  how  they  looked,  and  to  enable 
him  to  select  the  most  becoming  forms  before  finally 
constructing  them  in  another  and  superior  substance ; 
and  then  leaving  his  rude  and  imperfect  models  em- 
bedded in  the  debris  of  each  cataclysmic  epoch.1 
Such  a  conception  one  would  think  too  gross  for  any 
enlightened  age.  And  yet,  even  now,  a  large  number 
of  men,  and  a  greater  number  of  women,  are  under  the 
moral  domination  of  a  class  whose  ideas  are  little  in 
advance  of  these  gross,  vulgar  conceptions  of  the 
Infinite,  and  who  persistently  proclaim  their  right  to  be 
the  teachers  and  instructors  of  the  public  mind.  The 
life  of  an  error  is  generally  proportionate  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  name  of  its  promulgator;  hence  every 
authority,  as  an  authority,  should  be  subject  to  in- 
creasing knowledge.  It  was  owing  to  the  great  influ- 
ence exercised  by  Cuvier  for  so  many  years  that  the 
doctrine  of  Descent  made  so  little  progress  from  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  until  the  appearance 
of  Darwin,  by  whose  immortal  discovery  it  is  really 
proved. 

The  science  of  palaeontology  proves  the  theory  of 
evolution  in  a  manner  so  conclusive,  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  anyone  who  has  well  considered  the  facts 
to  entertain  much  doubt  on  the  subject.  Only  near  the 
surface  of  the  earth  are  found  any  remains  of  highly- 
developed  animals,  or  those  belonging  to  the  mam- 
malian class.  And  the  nearer  we  get  to  the  surface, 
1  As  Burns  said,  "trying  his  'prentice  hand." 


$6  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  more  nearly  do  the  fossil  remains  correspond  to 
the  species  now  in  existence.  Zoologists  have  no  great 
difficulty  in  deriving  present  species  from  those  now 
extinct,  which  are  found  in  the  stratified  rocks  lying 
near  the  surface  ;  and  the  deeper  we  penetrate,  the 
more  primitive  and  simple  in  structure  are  the  petrified 
remains,  and  the  farther  removed  from  the  still  living 
kindred  species. 

These  facts  were  recognised  by  Cuvier  in  his  work 
"  On  the  Fossil  Bones  cf  Vertebrate  Animals,"  though, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  explained  them  by  his  erroneous 
supposition  of  a  series  of  catastrophes  and  new  creations. 
Had  he  lived  to  benefit  by  Lyell's  labours,  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  recognised  and  acknowledged  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine  of  Descent. 


"The  theory  of  Descent,  according  to  Lamarck  and  Darwin, 
as  a  great  inductive  law,  and  indeed  the  greatest  of  all  induc- 
tive biological  laws,  is  in  the  first  place  based  on  the  facts  of 
palaeontology,  on  the  modification  of  species  brought  to  light  by 
the  science  of  petrifactions.  From  the  conditions  under  which 
these  fossils  or  petrifactions  are  found  buried  in  the  rock-layers 
of  our  earth,  we  draw  the  first  sure  conclusion  that  the  organic 
population  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  crust  of  the  earth  itself, 
has  been  slowly  and  gradually  evolved,  and  that  series  of  diverse 
populations  have  successively  appeared  at  different  periods  of  the 
earth's  history.  Modern  geology  shows  us  that  the  evolution  of 
the  earth  has  been  gradual,  and  without  total  and  violent  revolu- 
tion. Comparing  the  various  plant  and  animal  creations  that  have 
successively  appeared  during  the  course  of  the  earth's  history,  we 
find,  in  the  first  place,  that  an  increase  in  the  number  of  species 
has  been  constant  and  gradual  from  the  earliest  to  the  most  recent 
times  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  we  perceive  that  the  increase  in 
the  perfection  of  the  forms  belonging  to  each  of  the  larger  groups 
of  animals  and  plants  is  also  constant.  For  example,  the  only 
Vertebrates  existing  in  the  earliest  times  are  the  lower  Fishes  ; 
then  the  higher  kinds  of  Fishes,  later  Amphibia  appear  ;  still 
later,  the  three  higher  classes  of  Vertebrates,  Reptiles  first,  then 
Birds  and  Mammals.  Of  these,  only  the  most  imperfect  and 
lowest  forms  appear  first  ;  it  is  only  at  a  very  late  period  that 
the  higher  placental  Mammals  appear,  and  among  the  latest  and 
youngest  forms  of  the  latter  is  Man.  Both  the  perfection  of  forms 
and  their  variety  originate,  therefore,  only  gradually,  and  in  a 
period  extending  from  the  oldest  time  to  the  present  day.  This 
fact  is  of  great  importance,  and  can  be  explained  only  by  the 
doctrine    of    Descent,   with    which   it  perfectly  agrees.      If  the 


Palceontology  $7 


various  groups  of  plants  and  animals  had  descended  one  from 
another,  then  such  an  increase  in  number  and  degree  of  perfec- 
tion as  the  series  of  fossils  actually  exhibits  must  necessarily  have 
occurred."  1 

And  again,  in  this  connection  Professor  Romanes 
says  : 

"  The  first  of  these  general  facts  is,  that  an  increase  in  the 
diversity  of  types,  both  of  plants  and  animals,  has  been  constant 
and  progressive  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times,  as  we  should 
anticipate  that  it  must  have  been  on  the  theory  of  Descent  in  ever- 
ramifying  lines  of  pedigree.  And  the  second  general  fact  is  that 
through  all  these  branching  lines  of  ever-multiplying  types,  from 
the  appearance  of  each  of  them  to  their  latest  known  conditions, 
there  is  overwhelming  evidence  of  one  great  law  of  organic  nature 
—the  law  of  gradual  advance  from  the  general  to  the  special,  from 
the  low  to  the  high,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex."  2 

Now,  if  we  could  suppose  an  Infinite  mind  to  have 
watched  from  the  beginning  this  process  of  organic 
evolution — this  building  up,  so  to  speak,  of  the  living 
world  from  the  primitive  atoms — to  that  mind  there 
would  appear  but  one  continuous,  unbroken  activity, 
resulting  in  addition  and  subtraction  of  the  molecules 
so  constant  and  minute  that,  from  the  Moneron  up  to 
Man  not  a  single  point  in  the  long  series  would  indicate 
either  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  one  of  all  the  millions 
of  species  that  have  existed.  Not  one  condition  in 
organic  transformation  could  be  pointed  to  as  a  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  the  end  of  one  species  or 
the  beginning  of  another,  or  of  the  merging  of  one 
species  into  another.  The  transmutation  has  been  so 
gradual,  so  minute  and  slow,  so  imperceptible,  that  it 
could  only  be  by  separating  the  process  by  long  periods 
of  time  that  alterations  sufficiently  important  to 
constitute  new  species  would  be  observable. 

No  part  of  Evolution  is  perhaps  so  important  and 
interesting  to  man  as  that  which  treats  of  his  emergence 
from  his  immediate  brute  ancestors,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  speech  and  reason. 

1  Haeckel's  "Evolution  of  Man,"  p.  106. 

2  "Darwin,  and  After  Darwin,"  vol.  1.,  p.  162. 


$6  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  more  nearly  do  the  fossil  remains  correspond  to 
the  species  now  in  existence.  Zoologists  have  no  great 
difficulty  in  deriving  present  species  from  those  now 
extinct,  which  are  found  in  the  stratified  rocks  lying 
near  the  surface  ;  and  the  deeper  we  penetrate,  the 
more  primitive  and  simple  in  structure  are  the  petrified 
remains,  and  the  farther  removed  from  the  still  living 
kindred  species. 

These  facts  were  recognised  by  Cuvier  in  his  work 
"  On  the  Fossil  Bones  cf  Vertebrate  Animals,"  though, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  explained  them  by  his  erroneous 
supposition  of  a  series  of  catastrophes  and  new  creations. 
Had  he  lived  to  benefit  by  Lyell's  labours,  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  recognised  and  acknowledged  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine  of  Descent. 


"  The  theory  of  Descent,  according  to  Lamarck  and  Darwin, 
as  a  great^  inductive  law,  and  indeed  the  greatest  of  all  induc- 
tive biological  laws,  is  in  the  first  place  based  on  the  facts  of 
palaeontology,  on  the  modification  of  species  brought  to  light  by 
the  science  of  petrifactions.  From  the  conditions  under  which 
these  fossils  or  petrifactions  are  found  buried  in  the  rock-layers 
of  our  earth,  we  draw  the  first  sure  conclusion  that  the  organic 
population  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  crust  of  the  earth  itself, 
has  been  slowly  and  gradually  evolved,  and  that  series  of  diverse 
populations  have  successively  appeared  at  different  periods  of  the 
earth's  history.  Modern  geology  shows  us  that  the  evolution  of 
the  earth  has  been  gradual,  and  without  total  and  violent  revolu- 
tion. Comparing  the  various  plant  and  animal  creations  that  have 
successively  appeared  during  the  course  of  the  earth's  history,  we 
find,  in  the  first  place,  that  an  increase  in  the  number  of  species 
has  been  constant  and  gradual  from  the  earliest  to  the  most  recent 
times  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  we  perceive  that  the  increase  in 
the  perfection  of  the  forms  belonging  to  each  of  the  larger  groups 
of  animals  and  plants  is  also  constant.  For  example,  the  only 
Vertebrates  existing  in  the  earliest  times  are  the  lower  Fishes  ; 
then  the  higher  kinds  of  Fishes,  later  Amphibia  appear  ;  still 
later,  the  three  higher  classes  of  Vertebrates,  Reptiles  first,  then 
Birds  and  Mammals.  Of  these,  only  the  most  imperfect  and 
lowest  forms  appear  first  ;  it  is  only  at  a  very  late  period  that 
the  higher  placental  Mammals  appear,  and  among  the  latest  and 
youngest  forms  of  the  latter  is  Man.  Both  the  perfection  of  forms 
and  their  variety  originate,  therefore,  only  gradually,  and  in  a 
period  extending  from  the  oldest  time  to  the  present  day.  This 
fact  is  of  great  importance,  and  can  be  explained  only  by  the 
doctrine    of    Descent,   with    which   it  perfectly  agrees.      If  the 


Paleontology  $7 


various  groups  of  plants  and  animals  had  descended  one  from 
another,  then  such  an  increase  in  number  and  degree  of  perfec- 
tion as  the  series  of  fossils  actually  exhibits  must  necessarily  have 
occurred."  ] 

And  again,  in  this  connection  Professor  Romanes 
says  : 

"  The  first  of  these  general  facts  is,  that  an  increase  in  the 
diversity  of  types,  both  of  plants  and  animals,  has  been  constant 
and  progressive  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times,  as  we  should 
anticipate  that  it  must  have  been  on  the  theory  of  Descent  in  ever- 
ramifying  lines  of  pedigree.  And  the  second  general  fact  is  that 
through  all  these  branching  lines  of  ever-multiplying  types,  from 
the  appearance  of  each  of  them  to  their  latest  known  conditions, 
there  is  overwhelming  evidence  of  one  great  law  of  organic  nature 
— the  law  of  gradual  advance  from  the  general  to  the  special,  from 
the  low  to  the  high,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex."  2 

Now,  if  we  could  suppose  an  Infinite  mind  to  have 
watched  from  the  beginning  this  process  of  organic 
evolution — this  building  up,  so  to  speak,  of  the  living 
world  from  the  primitive  atoms— to  that  mind  there 
would  appear  but  one  continuous,  unbroken  activity, 
resulting  in  addition  and  subtraction  of  the  molecules 
so  constant  and  minute  that,  from  the  Moneron  up  to 
Man  not  a  single  point  in  the  long  series  would  indicate 
either  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  one  of  all  the  millions 
of  species  that  have  existed.  Not  one  condition  in 
organic  transformation  could  be  pointed  to  as  a  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  the  end  of  one  species  or 
the  beginning  of  another,  or  of  the  merging  of  one 
species  into  another.  The  transmutation  has  been  so 
gradual,  so  minute  and  slow,  so  imperceptible,  that  it 
could  only  be  by  separating  the  process  by  long  periods 
of  time  that  alterations  sufficiently  important  to 
constitute  new  species  would  be  observable. 

No  part  of  Evolution  is  perhaps  so  important  and 
interesting  to  man  as  that  which  treats  of  his  emergence 
from  his  immediate  brute  ancestors,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  speech  and  reason. 

1  HaeckePs  "Evolution  of  Man,"  p.  106. 

2  "Darwin,  and  After  Darwin,"  vol.  i.,  p.  162. 


58  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


On  this  point  there  is  much  confusion  of  thought  in 
the  public  mind ;  and  even  writers  and  others  who 
occupy  considerable  positions  in  public  estimation  are 
continually  demanding  proofs,  which  plainly  shows  that 
they  have  not  grasped  the  meaning  and  principle  of 
Evolution.  It  is  quite  a  common  belief  that  Darwinism 
means  the  development  of  man  from  the  existing 
anthropoid  apes,  and  that  in  course  of  time  these  apes 
will  also  develop  into  men  ;  and  they  ask  that  man 
should  be  cultivated  from  the  gorilla,  orang,  chimpanzee, 
or  gibbon.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  neither  Darwin  nor 
Huxley,  nor  any  other  responsible  scientist,  ever  said 
anything  of  the  kind.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  one 
and  all  unanimous  in  asserting  the  impossibility  of  any 
of  these  apes  being  among  the  ancestors  of  man. 

These  four  apes  and  man  are  all  distinct  species,  and 
have  developed  along  different  lines,  from  common 
ancestors.  They  are  cousins  to  one  another,  all  five 
having  descended  from  some  as  yet  undiscovered 
progenitors. 

Even  for  the  uninitiated,  who  possess  no  anatomical 
knowledge,  it  is  impossible  to  study  and  compare  the 
five  figures  in  the  plate  without  being  strongly  impressed 
with  the  belief  that  they  are  all  nearly  related  to  one 
another ;  and  that,  if  man  has  been  made  in  the  image 
of  his  Creator,  so  also  have  these  four  apes.  To  the 
anatomist  the  proofs  of  blood  relationship  are  con- 
clusive ;  for  a  detailed  account  of  them  I  would  refer 
the  reader  to  Professor  Huxley's  "  Man's  Place  in 
Nature,"  where  he  will  find  the  whole  subject  minutely 
and  exhaustively  considered,  according  to  the  best 
knowledge  we  possess.  We  may,  however,  briefly 
mention  here  some  of  the  most  important  points  of 
resemblance  between  man  and  his  ape  cousins. 

No  part  of  Evolution  possesses  so  much  interest  for 
the  general  public  as  man's  connection  with  the  man-like 
apes.  This  is  only  natural,  since,  to  the  most  sceptical 
and  unbelieving,  the  resemblance  is  striking,  not  to  say 
startling  and  impressive  ;  and  in  spite  of  all  prejudice 
and  hatred,  due  especially  to  early  theological  training, 
the  conviction  insensibly  and  irresistibly  steals  upon  us 


Palceontology  61 


that  between  ourselves  and  the  most  highly  developed 
of  the  apes  there  is  indeed  some  mysterious  and  close 
relationship. 

Evolution  supposes  that,  far  back  in  the  past,  there 
existed  a  tribe  of  animals  which,  in  their  upward  course 
from  lower  forms,  had  approached  somewhat  towards 
the  human  form.  They  are  known  as  Catarhine,  or 
narrow-nosed  apes,  and  from  them  have  descended,  in 
five  different  streams,  man,  gorilla,  orang,  chimpanzee, 
and  gibbon.  Each  one,  as  it  developed  along  its  own 
peculiar  line,  improved  in  structure  and  grew  in  con- 
comitant intelligence — man  outstripping  all  the  others  in 
very  large  degrees.  Before  the  present  perfection  of 
structure  in  man  was  reached  he  passed  through  many 
modifications ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  his  ape 
cousins.  The  common  progenitor  has  not  yet  been 
discovered  ;  but  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  hope  that  as 
palseontological  research  goes  on  it  may  yet  be  brought 
to  light.  "  The  ape-like  progenitors  of  the  human  race 
are  long  since  extinct ;  we  may  possibly  still  find  their 
fossil  bones  in  the  tertiary  rocks  of  Southern  Asia  or 
Africa,"  writes  Haeckel. 

In  the  long  and  gradual  ascent  of  man  from  his  ape- 
like ancestors  arose  ape-like  man,  with  erect  posture, 
more  developed  brain,  and  characteristic  differentiation 
between  hand  and  foot.  It  may  fairly  be  assumed  that 
for  some  time  after  the  outward  appearance  and  form 
had  been  reached  man  was  still  without  language,  and 
in  his  habits  and  mode  of  life  almost  as  brutal  as  the 
gorilla  of  to-day.  It  ought  not  to  be  at  all  difficult  to 
realise  this,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  condition  of  the 
Australian  and  Papuan  of  the  present  time,  which  is 
only  a  few  degrees  removed  from  that  of  the  apes.  If 
the  three  degrees  of  mental  power  possessed  by  the  apes, 
the  Australian,  and  the  European,  are  compared,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  difference  between  the  intellectual 
power  of  the  most  developed  European  and  that  of  the 
Australian  is  greater  than  that  between  the  Australian 
and  the  anthropoid  apes.  Between  the  highest  man  and 
the  lowest  man  there  is  a  greater  gulf  than  between  the 
lowest  man  and  the  highest  ape. 


62  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

No  other  animals,  besides  man  and  the  four  apes 
mentioned  above,  possess  both  hands  and  feet.  The 
resemblance  in  structure  between  our  hands  and  feet 
and  those  of  the  apes  is  very  striking,  as  is  also  the 
manner  of  use.  In  a  less  degree  they  use  their  hands 
as  we  do  ;  and  though  they  have  not  attained  to  perfect 
mastery  in  the  use  of  their  feet  in  walking,  they  still  are 
able  to  use  them,  independently  of  their  hands,  for  the 
purpose  of  locomotion,  with  considerable  dexterity. 
The  hands  and  feet  in  man  have  been  very  great  aids  to 
his  intellectual  development,  probably  the  greatest 
factors  in  his  evolution  towards  a  speaking,  reasoning 
creature.  By  the  use  of  his  feet  he  has  attained  to  the 
perfectly  upright  posture,  the  importance  of  which  it  is 
impossible  to  over-estimate  ;  and  by  the  use  of  his  hands 
he  has  simply  become  what  he  is — Man. 

The  growth  of  the  nervous  system  and  the  brain  has 
gone  on  step  by  step  with  the  development  of  the 
upright  carriage  and  dexterity  in  using  the  hands. 
Between  the  two  there  has  been  a  constant  inter- 
action, resulting  in  the  gradual  evolution  of  the  whole 
being. 

Between  man  and  these  four  apes  there  are,  indeed, 
many  points  of  resemblance,  proving  their  common 
descent  and  blood  relationship ;  and  among  scientific 
men  the  question  is  no  longer  considered  debatable  or 
open  to  doubt,  as,  indeed,  the  whole  theory  of  Descent 
may  now  be  considered  established  beyond  the  possibility 
of  disproof.  Even  apart  from  all  other  proofs,  fossilised 
remains  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  justify  the  acceptance 
of  the  theory  of  Evolution. 

While  human  skulls  of  a  very  low  and  degraded  type 
have  been  found,  hitherto  none  have  been  discovered 
which  may  truly  be  said  to  have  belonged  to  an  animal 
midway  between  man  and  his  ape  progenitors.1  We 
may  fairly  say,  however,  that  the  Neanderthal  skull 
must  have  belonged  to  a  being  considerably  lower  in  the 
scale  of  development,  and  more  nearly  approaching  the 
apes  than  any  race  of  men  now  living.  Respecting  this 
skull,  which  was  found  in  a  cavern  "  unaccompanied 
1  See  page  64. 


Paleontology  63 


with  any  trace  of  human  art/'  Professor  Huxley 
says : 

"  Under  whatever  aspect  we  view  this  cranium — 
whether  we  regard  its  vertical  depression,  the  enormous 
thickness  of  its  superciliary  ridges,  its  sloping  occiput,  or 
its  long  and  straight  squamosal  suture — we  meet  with  ape- 
like characters  stamping  it  as  the  most  pithecoid  of 
human  crania  yet  discovered."  And  though  it  may  be, 
as  he  says,  that  "  in  no  sense  can  the  Neanderthal  be  re- 
garded as  the  remains  of  a  human  being  intermediate 
between  men  and  apes,"  it  is,  nevertheless,  quite  certain 
that  the  Neanderthal  man  was  of  a  type  very  much 
lower  down  and  nearer  to  the  apes  than  any  race  of  men 
now  living.  And  this  fact  alone  is  as  convincing  in  its 
way  as  the  actual  discovery  of  the  "  missing  link"  itself 
would  be. 

It  is  only  a  question  of  degree ;  those  who  preceded 
the  Neanderthal  men,  and  from  whom  they  were 
developed,  must  have  been  still  more  brutal,  and  there- 
fore less  developed  and  nearer  to  our  ape  progenitors  ; 
otherwise  the  doctrine  of  progressive  development  would 
not  hold  good. 

"  Where,  then,"  asks  Professor  Huxley,  "  must  we 
look  for  primeval  Man  ?  Was  the  oldest  Homo  sapiens 
pliocene  or  miocene,  or  yet  more  ancient?  In  still 
older  strata  do  the  fossilised  bones  of  an  ape  more 
anthropoid,  or  a  man  more  pithecoid,  than  any 
yet  known  await  the  researches  of  some  unborn 
palaeontologist  ?     Time  will  show." 

It  is  quite  possible  that  this  question  may  shortly  be 
answered,  and  that  primeval  man  has  turned  up  in  the 
discoveries  quite  recently  made  of  three  skeletons  in  a 
cave  near  Mentone.  These  human  remains  are  said  to 
be  quite  a  hundred  thousand  years  old,  "  and  that  from 
the  formation  of  their  skulls  they  were  of  a  decidedly 
degraded  animal  nature."  "  The  skulls  are  of  a  very 
animal  type,  almost  resembling  that  of  the  ape."  These 
remains  carry  us  still  nearer  to  the  pithecoid  form  than 
any  yet  discovered,  but  how  much  nearer  is  not  at 
present  known,  as  they  have  yet  to  be  examined  by 
competent  authority. 


64  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


We  cannot  hope,  however,  that  they  will  turn  out 
to  be  the  veritable  missing  link,  or  sufficiently  ape-like 
and  wanting  in  reason  and  speech  to  disentitle  them  to 
be  classed  as  Homo  sapiens  ;  though  it  would,  under  all 
circumstances,  be  quite  impossible  to  draw  a  hard-and- 
fast  line  of  demarcation,  and  say  here  the  ape  ends  and 
man  begins.  In  Nature,  as  we  have  said  before,  there 
are  no  such  breaks  or  sharp  lines  ;  and  Man  is.  but  a 
part  of  universal  Nature.  If  it  be  found,  on  careful 
scientific  examination,  that  the  skulls  of  these  skeletons 
really  resemble  that  of  the  ape  more  nearly  than  that  of 
man,  it  is  just  possible  that  they  may  turn  out  to  be  the 
intermediate  link  between  man  and  the  apes. 

Since  the  above  was  published  in  the  first  edition  of 
this  book,  in  1893,  a  most  remarkable  discovery  has 
been  made  which,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  is 
the  veritable  missing  link. 

Professor  E.  Haeckel,  in  his  address  delivered  at^  the 
Fourth  International  Congress  of  Zoology  at  Cambridge 
in  1898,  says:  "Three  years  ago  this  now  famous 
ape-like  man  (the  celebrated  fossil  Pithecanthropus 
erectus,  discovered  in  Java,  in  1894,  by  Dr.  Eugene 
Dubois)  provoked  an  animated  discussion  at  the  Third 
International  Zoological  Congress  at  Leyden.  ...  If 
we  may  judge  from  these  fossil  remains,  the  bones  of 
Pithecanthropus  are  not  younger  than  the  oldest 
Plistocene,  and  probably  belong  to  the  upper  Pliocene. 
The  teeth  are  like  those  of  man.  The  femur  also  is 
very  human,  but  shows  some  resemblances  to  that  of 
the  gibbons.  Its  size,  however,  indicates  an  animal 
which  stood,  when  erect,  not  less  than  5  feet  6  inches 
high.  The  skull-cap  also  is  very  human,  but  with  very 
prominent  eyebrow  ridges,  like  those  of  the  famous 
Neanderthal  cranium.  .  .  . 

"  The  final  result  of  the  long  discussion  at  Leyden  was 
that,  of  twelve  experts  present,  three  held  that  the  fossil 
remains  belonged  to  a  low  race  of  man  ;  three  declared 
them  to  be  those  of  a  man-like  ape  of  great  size ;  the 
rest  maintained  that  they  belonged  to  an  intermediate 
form,  which  directly  connected  primitive  man  with  the 
anthropoid  apes.     This  last  view  is  the  right  one,  and 


P  alceontology  65 


accords  with  the  laws  of  logical  inference.  Pithecan- 
thropus erectus  of  Dubois  is  truly  a  Pliocene  remainder 
of  that  famous  group  of  highest  Catarrhines  which  were 
the  immediate  pithecoid  ancestors  of  man.  He  is 
indeed  the  long-searched-for  '  missing-link.'  "  This  ape- 
man  was,  of  course,  without  speech  ;  and  his  condition 
of  life  probably  similar  to  that  of  the  apes  to-day.  It  is 
calculated  that  he  lived  about  270,000  years  ago. 

There  is  not  a  single  race  of  men  that  have  not  some 
ape-like  characteristics  in  their  anatomical  structure. 
Weisbach  says,  "  The  ape-like  characteristics  of  Malt 
are  by  no  means  concentrated  in  one  or  another  race, 
but  are  distributed  in  particular  parts  of  the  body  among 
the  different  races  in  such  a  manner  that  each  is  endowed 
with  some  heirloom  of  his  relationship — one  race  more 
so,  another  less  ;  and  even  we  Europeans  cannot  claim 
to  be  entirely  free  from  evidences  of  this  relationship." 

This  result  was  arrived  at  from  a  careful  examination 
of  the  different  races  of  men  by  Scherzer  and  Schwaiz 
in  their  voyage  round  the  earth,  and  is  exactly  what  we 
should  expect  from  the  theory  of  Descent.  In  regard  to 
the  skull,  the  variations  from  the  most  savage  races  to 
the  European  are  very  considerable,  probably  as  great  as 
those  existing  between  the  four  apes  above  referred  to. 
Neither  of  these  apes  can  be  said  to  be  absolutely  in  all 
respects  most  like  man,  but  each  possesses  some  parti- 
cular character  in  which  it  stands  nearer  than  the  others 
to  man.  "  The  orang  stands  nearest  to  man  in  regard 
to  the  formation  of  the  brain,  the  chimpanzee  in  im- 
portant characteristics  in  the  formation  of  the  skull,  the 
gorilla  in  the  development  of  the  feet  and  hands,  and 
lastly  the  gibbon  in  the  formation  of  the  thorax" 
(Haeckel).  This,  again,  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
theory  of  progressive  modification,  and  is  a  legitimate 
deduction  from  it. 

Those  who  wish  to  pursue  the  interesting  subject  of 
man's  resemblance  to  the  anthropoid  apes  will  find  the 
fullest  information  in  Professor  Huxley's  "  Man's  Place 
in  Nature." 

A  comparison  of  the  structural  differences  and  resem- 
blances between  these  apes  and  man,  on  the  one  hand, 

E 


66  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


amply  justifies  the  conclusion  that  they  are  all  five  the 
descendants  of  a  common  progenitor  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  achievements  of  man  would  seem  to 
contradict  such  common  origin.  Our  knowledge  and 
works  seem  to  place  our  race  in  an  exceptional  and 
privileged  position ;  and  it  is  this  consideration  which 
supplies  the  strongest  arguments  against  the  inclusion 
of  man  in  the  scheme  of  gradual  development  of  organic 
nature. 

Why  has  man  so  distanced  the  apes  in  the  struggle  of 
life,  if  at  a  period,  however  remote,  he  and  they  had  a 
common  ancestor,  and  began  the  race  on  equal  terms  ? 
When  the  great  achievements  of  the  human  mind  are 
considered,  we  are  led  to  ask  :  Against  these,  what 
have  the  apes  to  show  ?  Nothing,  absolutely  nothing. 
Indeed,  so  far  as  organic  social  development  is  con- 
cerned, they  are  far  below  the  bees  and  ants. 

Such  considerations  seem,  on  the  face  of  them,  to 
point  conclusively  to  the  view  that  man  is  not  merely 
higher  in  degree  than  the  apes,  but  that  he  is  altogether 
different  in  kind,  and  is  endowed  with  an  intellectual 
principle  having  little  or  no  affinity  with  the  intelligence 
displayed  by  the  rest  of  the  animal  kingdom.  And  if 
the  power  of  mind  possessed  by  the  very  few,  to  whose 
knowledge  and  discoveries  our  superior  position  is  due, 
were  common  to  the  race,  it  would  be  extremely  difficult 
to  accept  the  theory  of  Descent  as  applied  to  ourselves. 
For  in  that  case  the  gulf  between  us  and  the  apes 
could  scarcely  be  bridged  in  thought. 

As  it  is,  the  slight  remove  of  the  lowest  races  of  men, 
in  point  of  intellect  and  social  organisation,  from  the 
apes,  offers  additional  proof,  if  any  were  needed,  of  the 
truth  of  our  descent.  Let  us  try  and  imagine  what  the 
world  would  be  to-day  if  it  were  peopled  only  by  those 
races.  The  apes  would  still  dispute  with  man  the 
supremacy,  and  the  earth  would  be  a  wilderness  of  forest 
and  swamps,  containing  no  vestige  whatever  of  civilised 
life.  The  arts  and  sciences,  even  in  their  most  primitive 
state,  would,  of  course,  be  utterly  unknown  ;  and  the 
heavens  would  be  as  meaningless  to  the  human  as  to  the 
ape  mind. 


Paleontology  67 


Rising  somewhat  in  the  scale  of  intelligence,  and 
coming  to  civilised  man,  what  a  gulf  separates  even  him 
from  the  few  great  intellects  on  whose  discoveries  the 
fabric  of  all  we  possess  rests  !  Nay,  we  may  even  take 
the  so-called  educated  classes,  and  how  many  among 
them  possess  the  gift  of  mind  requisite  for  advancing,  in 
ever  so  slight  a  degree,  the  progress  of  the  race  ?  Very 
few  indeed.  Of  all  the  millions  that  pass  away  in  a 
generation,  how  few  leave  behind  any  distinctively 
valuable  work ! x 

The  potentialites  of  mind,  with  slight  variations  in  the 
educated  and  the  uneducated  alike,  are  nearly  equal 
among  civilised  men  ;  and  perhaps  not  more  than  one  in 
every  five  thousand  or  so  is  capable  of  understanding 
the  great  currents  of  thought  which  shape  progress  from 
time  to  time  ;  and  yet  in  ordinary  speech  and  outward 
bearing  the  master-mind  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  million.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  few  great  poets, 
philosophers,  and  scientists,  where  would  the  world  be 
to-day  ?  Probably  in  a  condition  little  better  than  that 
described  above. 

To  the  very  few  great  master-minds  of  the  world, 
then,  we  owe  our  knowledge  and  progress,  and  con- 
sequently our  vast  superiority  over  the  apes ;  and  yet 
the  aborigines  of  Australia,  who  are  so  near  to  the  apes 
in  intelligence,  just  as  distinctly  belong  to  the  family  of 
man  as  do  the  greatest  of  men.  Between  the  condition 
of  the  ape-world  and  that  of  the  lowest  races  of  men, 
there  is,  almost  beyond  comparison,  less  difference  than 
between  the  latter  and  civilised  communities. 

If  the  savages  are  nearer  to  the  apes  in  intellectual 
power  and  endowments  than  they  are  to  a  Darwin  or  a 
Shelley,  while  possessing  brains  approximating  so  nearly 
to  those  of  the  latter,  and  yet  differing  but  slightly  from 
those  of  the  former,  surely  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand, 
if  growth  in  quality  and  quantity  of  the  brain  is  the 
main  factor  of  human  development,  how  the  most  highly- 
endowed  men  may  have  been  slowly  evolved  from  ape- 

1  Galton  says  only  one  in  four  thousand  is  of  conspicuous  ability, 
and  one  in  a  million  whose  abilities  will  be  recognised  by  future 
generations. 


68  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

like  ancestors.  The  great  marvel  is  that  such  vast 
results  should  be  dependent  upon  a  few  more  brain  cells 
conglomerated  and  more  closely  packed  in  that  organ. 
And  if  the  growth  of  brain  goes  on  in  the  future  as  it 
has  done  in  the  past — and  why  should  it  not  ? — the 
destiny  of  the  human  race  on  the  earth  is  probably 
infinitely  greater  than  the  most  far-seeing  minds  can 
form  any  conception  of. 

Let  us  picture  to  ourselves  the  savage  roaming  his 
forests  and  swamps,  and  the  astronomer  in  his  study 
mapping  out  the  heavens,  weighing  and  measuring  the 
stupendous  bodies  away  in  the  infinite  depths  of  space, 
and  calculating  their  movements  and  velocities  to  the 
smallest  fraction  in  time  and  space,  and  then  limit,  if  we 
can,  the  possibilities  of  the  human  mind  in  the  ages  to 
come  ! 

Such  considerations  as  these  effectually  dispose  of  the 
arguments  against  evolution  supplied  by  the  progressive 
character  and  attainments  of  man,  and  the  stationary 
condition  of  the  lower  animals,  so  far  as  man's  limited 
experience  in  time  goes.  There  is,  however,  now  every 
reason  to  believe  from  the  latest  researches  that,  at  least, 
some  of  the  lower  creatures  progress  in  communal 
arrangements.  We  know  that  ants  have  an  elaborate 
social  organisation  as  complete  in  its  way  as  any  human 
community.  Bees  have  the  same  ;  and  if  it  were  possible 
to  observe  more  closely  their  daily  lives  we  should, 
doubtless,  find  that  they  discover  new  methods  of  attain- 
ing their  ends,  and  modify,  improve,  and  progress  in 
many  ways.  The  interesting  labours  of  Sir  John 
Lubbock  have  made  us  acquainted  with  many  astonish- 
ing facts  in  the  ant-world,  the  mere  mention  of  which 
only  a  few  years  ago  would  have  been  treated  with 
contempt  and  ridicule. 

In  contemplating  the  awful,  indefinite  immensity  of  the 
universe  in  time,  space  and  numbers,  we  are  led  to  reflect 
upon  our  tiny  "  mote  in  the  sunbeam,"  and  the  brief  span 
of  time  during  which  rational  man  has  been  its  occupant. 
For  an  immeasurable  length  of  time  before  life  of  any 
kind  appeared,  the  earth  was  in  process  of  making. 
Millions  of  years  must  have  elapsed  before  it  attained  to 


Paleontology  69 


the  condition  favourable  for  the  production  of  living 
matter ;  and  again  a  period  of  time,  too  great  for  our 
realisation,  must  have  passed  from  the  first  appearance 
of  life  to  that  of  speaking  man.  A  sort  of  rough  estimate 
has  been  formed  of  the  great  periods  of  rock  deposits  in 
which  petrifactions  are  found ;  but  they  are  necessarily 
very  vague  and  uncertain  as  to  time,  thousands  of  years 
being  but  as  minutes  in  our  lives,  in  the  whole  organic 
history  of  the  earth.  Of  one  thing,  however,  we  are 
quite  certain,  viz.,  that  the  period  during  which  this 
world  has  been  the  home  of  man  is  so  small  that  it  is 
almost  as  nothing  compared  with  the  enormous  length  of 
time  during  which  life  was  slowly  evolving  and  building 
up  the  organic  structure  that  preceded  man,  and  out  of 
which  he  has  grown. 

The  oldest  discovered  organic  remains  are  those  of  a 
fish-like  creature,  found  in  the  Silurian  formation,  dating 
back,  geologists  tell  us,  over  twenty  million  years. 
During  these  twenty-odd  million  years  all  the  races 
of  animals,  with  man  at  their  head,  have  been 
slowly  progressing  from  that  fish-like  form.  This 
creature  was,  of  course,  the  outcome  of  other  organisms, 
going  back  many  more  millions  of  years  ;  but  no  fossils 
are  known  of  an  earlier  date  than  the  Silurian. 

Taking  the  nine  representative  stages  from  the  above 
fish  up  to  man,  viz.,  Pithecanthropus  erectus  (the  missing 
link  connecting  man  with  the  apes),  Anthropoid  Apes, 
Lemures,  Prototheria  (first  mammals),  Theromorpha, 
Proreptilia,  Eotretrapoda,  Dipmoi  Fish,  it  is  found 
geologically  that  the  sum  of  the  periods  and  duration  of 
the  rock  strata  in  which  the  fossils  are  found  coincides 
approximately  with  the  sum  of  the  duration  and  life  of 
each  stage,  as  determined  by  biological  computation. 
The  duration  of  life  at  each  stage  is  known  roughly 
from  the  geological  determination  of  the  age  of 
the  rocks  in  which  the  fossils  are  found ;  and  biology 
being  able  to  determine  the  ages  and  puberty  of  the 
animals  in  each  stage,  we  arrive  at  the  total  number  of 
generations  through  which  man  has  passed  since  the  time 
of  his  fish-like  ancestor,  amounting  to  over  five  millions  ; 
and  giving  the  enormous  stretch  of  twenty-one  million 


70  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


years.  Thus  once  again  geology  and  evolution  lend 
support  to  each  other. 

As  man  prides  himself  upon  being  the  sole  object  for 
whose  special  benefit  all  things  have  been  brought  into 
existence — sun,  moons,  planets,  stars,  animals,  and  plants 
— we  may,  with  advantage,  reflect  upon  the  undoubted 
facts  that  long  before  he  appeared  on  earth — so  long 
that  millions  of  years  are  but  as  short  periods  compared 
with  our  lives — it  was  a  globe,  moving  round  the  sun  as 
it  now  moves,  and  that  for  ages  before  his  advent  it  was 
the  home  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  And  for  infinite 
ages  after  he  finally  disappears,  together  with  every  form 
of  life,  as  we  know  it,  it  will  continue  in  its  course,  until 
it  is  finally  reabsorbed  by  the  sun.  If  man  is  the 
prime  object  in  the  Universe,  and  for  him  alone  all  things 
have  been  created,  no  matter  how,  what  is  the  meaning 
of  his  comparatively  short  occupancy  of  the  home  that 
has  been  specially  made  for  him  ?  Why  was  it  occupied 
for  all  those  ages  by  the  lower  animals  only?  And 
above  all,  why  does  it  exist  in  solitary  silence,  with 
no  living  thing  upon  it,  for  a  series  of  years  compared 
with  which  the  life  of  our  race  dwindles  to  a  small  span 
indeed  ? 

These  are  questions  which  should  well  give  us  pause 
in  our  pride  and  arrogance,  in  our  assumption  that  for  us 
alone  universal  power,  unlimited  in  time  and  space, 
should  have  been  put  forth.  Let  man  reflect  upon  the 
utter  insignificance  of  the  small  speck  of  matter  he 
is  permitted  to  occupy  in  the  vast,  indefinite  Universe ; 
upon  the  mere  moment  of  the  life  of  his  race  even, 
compared  with  the  total  of  animal  life ;  and,  above  all, 
upon  the  merest  fragment  of  a  fraction  of  secular  time 
comprising  his  individual  life ;  and  then  ask  himself 
the  questions  that,  if  for  him  alone  Universal  Nature 
exists,  what  does  it  all  mean  ?  What  is  the  rationale  ? 
Why  this  mighty  waste  of  time,  power,  and  material, 
if  creation  has  been  specially  and  solely  designed  for 
him  ?  Why  is  his  home  but  a  mere  insignificant  speck 
among  countless  myriads  of  vastly  superior  bodies  in  the 
abyss  of  the  Universe?  Why  the  untold  ages,  during 
which  millions  of  bodies,  the  earth  included,  have  existed, 


Paleontology  7l 


and  will  continue  to  exist,  without  any  vestige  of  life, 
animal  or  vegetal  ?  Will  man  answer  these  questions  by 
saying,  "  For  me,  for  me  alone,  and  my  little  space  ol  lite, 
the  mighty  fabric  of  the  Universe  exists"?  For  the 
thoughtful  mind  there  is  surely  a  different  answer. 


CHAPTER  V 

EMBRYOLOGY 

Embryology  may  be  called  the  sister  science  to 
palaeontology,  using  the  latter  in  its  widest  sense  as 
embracing  all  the  morphological  changes,  constituting 
new  species  through  which  the  organic  world  has  passed. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  important  lines  of  evidence  in 
proof  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  which  is  a  simple  and 
natural  explanation  of  what  otherwise  would  be  an 
inexplicable  mystery.  For  obvious  reasons,  the  study 
of  embryology  is  older  and  more  complete  than  that 
of  palaeontology.  It  is  much  easier  to  study  the  de- 
velopment of  embryos  than  to  search  the  crust  of  the 
earth  for  fossilised  remains,  the  discovery  of  which  must 
of  necessity  be  left,  in  great  measure,  to  chance.  It 
would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  embryology,  or 
ontology,  is  the  sister  science  to  phylogeny,  which  deals 
with  the  whole  of  the  organic  world  from  the  moneron 
up  to  man  ;  whereas  palaeontology  only  takes  cognisance 
of  petrified  remains,  which  are,  of  course,  those  of 
considerably  developed  organisms. 

The  founder  of  embryology  was  Karl  Ernst  von  Baer, 
born  in  1792  in  Esthonia.  He  first  discovered  the  human 
egg;  and  in  conjunction  with  his  friend  Pander,  studied 
the  development  of  the  chick.  The  theory  of  the 
germinal  layers,  from  which  all  the  organs  arise,  was 
really  started  by  Pander,  but  completed  by  Baer,  after 
nine  years'  research.  Ten  years  before  the  discovery  of 
the  cells,  which  are  the  composing  units  of  all  organisms, 
he  made  the  following  remarkable  statement : — 

"  Perhaps  all  animals  are  alike,  and  nothing  but  hollow  globes 
at  their  earliest  developmental  beginning.  The  farther  back  we 
trace  their  development,  the  more  resemblance  we  find  to  the 
most  different  creatures.     And  this  leads  to  the  question  whether 

72 


Plate  II. 


Plate  III. 


ni  ni  -in 


Embryology  75 


at  the  beginning  of  their  development  all  animals  are  essentially 
alike,  and  referable  to  one  common  ancestral  form.  Considering 
that  the  germ  (which  at  a  certain  stage  appears  in  the  shape  of  a 
hollow  globe  or  bag)  is  the  undeveloped  animal  itself,  we  are  not 
without  reason  for  assuming  that  the  common  fundamental  form  is 
that  of  a  simple  vesicle,  from  which  every  animal  is  evolved,  not 
only  theoretically  but  historically." 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  beginning  of  organic  life  on 
the  earth  Nature  produced  from  the  "  original  slime " 
the  cell — a  minute  creature,  containing  the  vital  properties 
of  an  independent  living  being,  and  from  which  all  forms 
have  been  developed.1  The  beginning  of  every  indi- 
vidual life  is,  in  like  manner,  a  cell  ;  and  as  this  cell 
grows  by  the  addition  of  other  cells,  it  takes  on  at  the 
various  stages  of  its  embryonic  growth  and  formation 
the  embryonic  forms  through  which  its  ancestors  have 
passed.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  embryonic  phases 
in  the  development  of  a  higher  organism  necessarily 
resemble  so  many  adult  stages  of  a  lower  organism.  As 
Professor  Romanes  says  : 

"  This  may,  or  may  not,  be  the  case,  but  what  always  is  the  case 
is,  that  the  embryonic  phases  of  the  higher  forms  resemble  the 
corresponding  phases  of  the  lower  forms.  Thus,  for  example,  it 
would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that  at  any  stage  of  his  development  a 
man  resembles  a  jelly-fish.  What  he  does  resemble  at  an  early 
stage  of  his  development  is  the  essential  or  ground  plan  of  the  jelly- 
fish, which  that  animal  presents  in  its  embryonic  condition,  or  before 
it  begins  to  assume  its  more  specialised  characters  fitting  it  for  its 
own  particular  sphere  of  life.  .  .  .  The  comparison,  therefore, 
must  be  a  comparison  of  embryo  with  embryo,  not  of  embryos  with 
adult  forms." 

The  embryo  of  every  animal  (man  included),  during 
its  development  from  conception  to  birth,  passes  through 
those  stages  or  changes  of  form  through  which  its  long 
line  of  ancestors  have  passed,  beginning  in  each  case  with 
a  minute  cell.  The  embryonic  growth  is  a  brief  and 
rapid  recapitulation  of  the  historical  growth.  In 
Haeckel's  words  :  "  The  ontogenesis  of  any  given  living 

1  For  the  distinction  between  Protozoa  and  Metozoa,  i.e.,  uni- 
cellular and  multi-cellular  organisms,  see  Romanes'  "  Darwin,  and 
After  Darwin." 


J 6  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


organism   is    a   short,   condensed    recapitulation   of  its 
ancestral  history,  or  of  its  phylogenesis." 

When  the  egg-cell  (in  man  about  TJ^th  of  an  inch  in 
diameter)  has  been  fertilised  by  the  male  element,  it 
begins  to  grow  by  the  formation  and  addition  of  cells. 
Let  us  take  the  case  of  man's  embryonic  formation. 
In  the  early  stages  his  embryo  resembles  that  of  one 
of  the  lowest  creatures,  and  could  not  be  distinguished 
from  it ;  as  he  progresses,  differentiation  takes  place 
precisely  simiiar  to  that  which  occurs  in  the  embryo  of 
any  of  the  other  higher  animals — those  of  the  fish,  the 
reptile,  the  bird,  and  the  beast  being  exactly  the  same  in 
appearance  as  man's,  as  it  passes  through  those  stages. 
At  last  it  takes  on  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
mammal,  and  is  finally  completed  in  the  human  form. 
To  quote  Professor  Romanes  again  : 

"  Now,  if  the  theory  of  Evolution  is  true,  what  should  we  expect 
to  happen  when  those  germ-cells  are  fertilised,  and  so  enter  upon 
their  severally  distinct  processes  of  development  ?  Assuredly  we 
should  expect  to  find  that  the  higher  organisms  pass  through  the 
same  phases  of  development  as  the  lower  organisms,  up  to  the 
time  when  their  higher  characters  begin  to  become  apparent.  If  in 
the  life-history  of  species  these  higher  characters  were  gained  by 
gradual  improvement  upon  lower  characters,  and  if  the  develop- 
ment of  the  higher  individual  is  now  a  general  recapitulation  of 
that  of  its  ancestral  species,  in  studying  their  recapitulation  we 
should  expect  to  find  the  higher  organism  successively  unfolding 
its  higher  characters  from  the  lower  ones  through  which  its 
ancestral  species  had  previously  passed.  And  this  is  just  what  we 
do  find." 

This  is  admirably  and  concisely  expressed. 

In  the  interior  of  the  germ-cell  is  a  nucleus,  and 
around  the  cell  a  rind  with  minute  openings  or  gate- 
ways. We  shall  the  better  realise  and  appreciate  the 
marvellous  mechanism  and  operations  of  Nature  if  we 
consider  that  the  whole  of  the  cell  containing  this  com- 
plex structure  is  almost  too  small  to  be  seen  with  the 
naked  eye.  When  fertilisation  takes  place,  the  male 
element,  in  the  shape  of  microscopic  tadpoles,  finds  its 
way  through  the  opening  or  gateway  of  the  cell-rind, 
and  fusing  with  the  nucleus  inside,  the  two  form  the 
foundation,  as  it  were,  of  the  future  being. 


Plate  IV. 


Hand  of  Six  different  Mammals. 


i,  Man.     2,  Gorilla.     3,  Oiang.     4,  Dog.     5,  Seal.     6,  Porpoise. 


Embryology  79 


It  is  a  most  remarkable  fact  that  the  male  pronucleus 
(too  small  to  be  seen  without  magnifying  power)  seems 
to  know  where  to  find  the  gateway  leading  to  the  abode 
of  the  female  pronucleus,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  enters 
her  domain  she  advances  to  meet  him,  when  they 
coalesce,  and  thus  supply  the  two  elements — male  and 
female — necessary  for  the  formation  of  an  organic  being. 

A  very  important  fact  to  observe  is,  that  in  so-called 
birth  and  growth  the  continuity  of  Nature  is  unbroken, 
reproduction  and  growth  being  one  and  the  same  process. 
Nature,  in  the  beginning  of  organic  existence  on  our 
planet,  elaborated  living  matter  from  inorganic  matter, 
and  has,  we  must  believe,  gone  on  doing  so  ever  since. 
The  unit  of  construction  she  has  elaborated  from  struc- 
tureless protoplasm  in  the  shape  of  a  cell ;  and  as  every 
living  thing  begins  to  form  and  grow  from  a  cell,  so  does 
it  take  form  and  grow  by  the  addition  of  other  cells 
merely.  So  that  we  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
multiplicity  of  cells  ;  and  all  the  powers  we  possess  are 
the  aggregate  of  the  individual  power  possessed  by  the 
individual  cells  composing  us. 

We  should  notice  in  this  connection,  though  we  make 
no  point  of  it,  and  draw  no  conclusions  from  it,  thatit  is 
held  to  be  not  an  impossibility  in  Nature  for  a  virgin  to 
conceive  and  give  birth  to  a  child.  Whether  this  be  so 
or  not  we  cannot  say.  At  all  events,  Professor  Romanes 
and  others  think  it,  under  certain  abnormal  conditions 
of  ovulation,  quite  within  the  range  of  possibility.  He 
says  : 

"  It  has  already  been  stated  that  both  parthenogenesis  and 
germination  are  ultimately  derived  from  sexual  reproduction.  It 
may  now  be  added,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  earlier  stages  of 
parthenogenesis  have  been  observed  to  occur  sporadically  in  all 
sub-kingdoms  of  the  Metozoa,  including  the  Vertebrata,  and  even 
the  highest  class,  Mammalia.  These  earlier  stages  consist  in 
spontaneous  segmentation  of  the  ovum  ;  so  that  even  if  a  virgin 
has  ever  conceived  and  borne  a  son,  and  even  if  such  a  fact  in 
the  human  species  has  been  unique,  still  it  would  not  betoken 
any  breach  of  physiological  continuity.  Indeed,  according  to 
Weismann's  not  improbable  hypothesis,  touching  the  physiological 
meaning  of  polar  bodies,  such  a  fact  need  betoken  nothing  more 
than  a  slight  disturbance  of  the  complex  machinery  of  ovulation, 


8o  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


on  account  of  which  the  ovum  failed  to  eliminate  from  its  substance 
an  almost  inconceivably  minute  portion  of  its  nucleus." 

Few  species  differ  more  from  one  another  in  form  than 
man  differs  from  the  hog,  calf,  and  rabbit,  for  example, 
and  yet  the  human  embryo,  as  may  be  seen  from  Plate 
II.,  in  the  early  stages,  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
the  embryos  of  those  animals.  Let  the  reader  carefully 
compare  these  four  vertebrates  in  their  three  stages  of 
evolution. 

Plate  III.  represents  the  embryos  of  two  of  the  higher 
and  two  of  the  lower  vertebrates  in  their  different  stages 
— a  fish,  an  amphibian  (land-salamander),  a  reptile 
(tortoise),  and  a  bird  (chick).  Between  a  chick  and  a 
fish  there  is  certainly  very  little  resemblance  indeed  ; 
but  when  they  begin  their  lives,  the  agreement  in  all  the 
most  important  relations  of  form  is  almost  complete. 

These  plates,  with  the  explanations,  are  taken  from 
Haeckel's  "  Evolution  of  Man." 

These  illustrations  will  perhaps  suffice  to  show  that 
animals  the  most  diverse  in  form,  man  included,  in  germ 
life  have  a  common  origin ;  and  we  shall  see  presently 
that,  though  they  differ  so  remarkably  in  outward  form 
and  appearance,  the  internal  resemblance  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  preserved. 

To  those  who  have  not  studied  the  subject,  it  is  quite 
inconceivable  that  between  the  hand  of  man,  for  example, 
and  the  fore-feet  of  any  four-footed  animal  there  should 
be  a  similarity  of  structure,  since  in  outward  formation 
there  is  not  the  slightest  resemblance.  Between  the 
hand  of  man  and  that  of  the  ape  we  should  naturally 
expect  to  find  very  little  difference  in  structure  and 
number  of  bones,  as  they  correspond  so  nearly  in  out- 
ward configuration  ;  but  the  general  reader  will  be 
somewhat  astonished,  on  comparing  the  skeleton  of  the 
hand  and  fore-feet  of  the  six  mammals  in  Plate  IV.,  to 
find  how  nearly  they  resemble  one  another. 

By  the  different  uses  to  which  they  have  been  accus- 
tomed through  long  ages,  some  bones  have  become 
longer,  others  shorter  ;  but  the  identity  of  structure  still 
remains,  showing  most  conclusively  a  common  origin. 


Embryology  81 


Throughout  the  different  orders  of  mammals  the  simi- 
larity of  internal  structure  with  that  of  man  is  manifest 
and  unmistakable ;  and,  taken  in  connection  with  a 
multiplicity  of  other  facts,  we  are  irresistibly  driven  to 
the  conclusion  that  all  these  orders  have  come  from  a 
common  ancestral  form. 

Of  all  the  numerous  facts  pointing  to  this  conclusion, 
there  is  no  possible  explanation  otherwise  of  any  single 
one  ;  whereas  the  theory  of  Descent  is  a  perfectly  natural 
and  simple  explanation.  With  it,  every  single  fact  in 
the  whole  history  of  animal  economy  exactly  fits  in,  and 
is,  indeed,  the  inevitable  and  unavoidable  result.  It 
would  not  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  nearly  every 
known  fact  in  biological  science  is  a  necessary  deduction 
from  the  law  of  Evolution  ;  as  much  so  as  eclipses  and 
the  phases  of  the  moon  are  deductions  from  the  astrono- 
mical laws,  though,  of  course,  the  former  do  not  admit  of 
the  same  exact  scientific  demonstration. 

No  part  of  Nature's  processes  is  more  instructive,  or 
deserves  greater  consideration  than  the  embryological 
formation  or  development  of  man,  from  the  single  cell 
through  all  the  ancestral  forms,  in  the  short  space  of 
forty  weeks.  His  ancestral  life,  reaching  back  to  the 
single-cell  form,  must  be  computed  by  many  millions  of 
years  ;  and  the  number  and  variety  of  forms  through 
which  he  has  passed  in  his  upward  course  are  many  and 
complex.  That  this  immeasurably  long  process  of 
transformation  from  the  single  cell  to  complex  man 
should  be  repeated,  in  the  main  features,  during  the 
short  period  from  conception  to  birth,  is  of  the  most 
important  and  extraordinary  significance,  and  is  utterly 
meaningless  and  unaccountable  except  on  the  principle 
of  evolution. 

Man,  beginning  his  ancestral  life  on  this  earth  as  a 
tiny  cell  many  millons  of  years  ago,  begins  his  individual 
life  in  like  manner  as  a  tiny  cell  in  the  womb  ;  and  by 
the  time  he  is  completely  formed  and  ready  for  birth,  he 
has  passed,  in  his  formation,  through  all  those  animal 
forms  which  he  possessed  at  the  various  stages  of  his 
ancestral  life,  embracing  all  those  millions  of  years.  In 
the  beginning  Nature  began  with  the  cell,  as  her  unit  of 

F 


82  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

construction  for  the  organic  world  ;  and  she  has  gone  on 
building  with  cells  ever  since.  She  elaborates  for  her 
building  material  nothing  but  cells,  and  with  these  alone 
contrives  to  construct  the  whole  living  world,  with  its 
endless  varieties  and  capacities. 

The  worm  is  a  combination  of  cells  ;  man  is  a  com- 
bination of  cells.  Each  cell  in  the  worm  possesses  a 
distinct  individual  life ;  each  cell  in  man  possesses  a 
similar  individual  life.  The  sum  total  of  life,  as  we  see 
it,  is  but  the  sum  total  of  cell  life.  As  by  combination 
of  cells  alone  every  variety  of  form  is  produced,  so  by 
combination  of  cells  alone  every  degree  of  life  is  expressed, 
from  the  worm  to  man. 


CHAPTER  VI 

RUDIMENTARY  ORGANS 

ANOTHER  very  strong  line  of  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
evolution  is  the  well-established  fact  that  in  nearly  all 
animals  and  plants  there  are  what  are  called  rudimentary 
or  suppressed  organs.  In  all  the  higher  organisms  these 
disused  organs  are  found.  They  perform  no  function, 
serve  no  purpose  whatsoever,  and  are  perfectly  useless. 
They  have  always  been  a  stumbling-block  to  naturalists 
who  believe  in  the  "  design  "  theory  of  creation. 

Among  vertebrates  the  rudimentary  organs  are 
numerous,  and  the  only  possible  explanation  of  their 
presence  is  the  doctrine  of  descent,  which  not  only 
accounts  for  their  existence  where  found,  but  makes 
such  existence  in  certain  stages  an  unavoidable  necessity. 
It  is  well  known  that  if  you  cease  to  use  a  muscle  it  will 
get  weak  and  dwindle  away.  Put  your  arm  in  a  sling, 
keep  it  there  for  a  long  time  without  using  it,  and  it  will 
begin  to  lose  its  strength  and  wither,  and  continued 
disuse  will  cause  it  to  become  quite  powerless.  Now,  in 
the  gradual  process  of  development,  the  altered  external 
conditions  of  life  produce  modified  desires  and  necessi- 
ties, and  these  acting  upon  the  organism  bring  into  more 
active  operation  certain  organs,  while  others  are  relieved 
of  the  work  in  proportion.  The  former  will  develop  and 
grow,  while  the  latter  will  decrease  in  size,  and  ultimately 
vanish  altogether. 

In  man,  as  well  as  in  all  other  animals,  the  remains  of 
organs  once  performing  useful  functions,  but  now  doing 
no  work  whatsoever,  are  found  in  different  stages  of 
degeneration.  The  disuse  and  slow  disappearance  of 
organs  no  longer  required  owing  to  the  altered  condition 
of  the  environment  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  develop- 
ment  of  other   organs   necessitated    by   those    altered 

83 


84  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


conditions  on  the  other,  are  among  the  factors  which 
bring  about  the  transmutation  of  species,  and  are  the 
immediate  causes  of  the  most  widely  divergent  animal 
forms.  The  gradual  disappearance  of  the-no-longer 
required  organs,  and  the  rise  of  the  new,  can  be  traced 
through  various  species  of  mammals  up  to  man.  It  is  a 
slow,  steady,  morphological  change  which  is  never 
stationary,  and  never  very  rapid,  though,  in  earlier  periods 
of  the  earth's  history,  when  heat  and  moisture  were 
greater  than  at  present,  and  growth  was  correspondingly 
more  active,  the  change  of  structure  was  probably  very 
much  quickened.  At  those  periods  the  flora  and  fauna 
were  gigantic  as  well  as  numerous. 

The  subject  of  rudimentary  organs  is  of  the  very 
greatest  importance  to  the  theory  of  Descent.  Assum- 
ing the  truth  of  the  theory,  they  are  natural  and  inevit- 
able ;  accepting  the  "  plan  of  structure  "  theory,  they  are 
useless,  unnatural,  and  altogether  unaccountable.  Can 
anything  be  more  futile  than  the  explanation  given  by 
the  opponents  of  Evolution — that  the  Creator  made  the 
useless  organs  "because  he  saw  they  were  good  for  the 
purpose  of  beauty  and  symmetry  "  ?  They  are  the  very 
reverse  of  symmetrical,  and  as  to  their  "  goodness,"  they 
are  in  some  cases  a  source  of  danger  to  the  organism. 
The  fact  that  they  are  gradually  eliminated  by  disuse 
and  structural  progress  is  in  itself  a  refutation  of  the 
"  symmetry  "  theory. 

If  organic  evolution  had  to  stand  or  fall  on  rudi- 
mentary organs  alone,  they  are  sufficient  in  themselves 
to  satisfy  every  competent  inquirer  of  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine.  We  might  almost  venture  to  say  that  no 
unbiassed  mind  could  study  the  subject  long  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  all  rudimentary  organs  at 
one  time  served  a  useful  and  necessary  purpose  ;  and  that 
their  presence  in  every  organism  is  a  convincing  proof 
of  structural  modification  and  progress — a  living  proof, 
that  is,  that  the  organism  in  which  certain  disused 
organs  exist  is  closely  allied  to  that  in  which  they  are 
found  performing  useful  and  necessary  functions,  and 
that  both  have  sprung  from  a  common  ancestor. 


Rudimentary  Organs  85 


"Throughout  both  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  we 
constantly  meet  with  dwarfed  and  useless  representations  of  organs, 
which  in  other  and  allied  kinds  of  animals  and  plants  are  of  large 
size  and  functional  utility.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  unborn  whale 
has  rudimentary  teeth,  which  are  never  destined  to  cut  the  gums  ; 
and  throughout  its  life  this  animal  retains,  in  a  similarly  rudimentary 
condition,  a  number  of  organs  which  never  could  have  been  of  use 
to  any  kind  of  creature  save  a  terrestrial  quadruped.  The  whole 
anatomy  of  its  internal  ear,  for  example,  has  reference  to  hearing 
in  air,  or  as  Hunter  long  ago  remarked,  is  constructed  upon  the 
same  principle  as  in  the  quadruped."  1 

The  reader  who  wishes  to  study  this  interesting  subject 
in  detail  should  consult  the  works  of  Romanes  and 
others. 

1  "  Darwin,  and  After  Darwin,"  p.  65. 


CHAPTER    VII 

DARWIN'S  LAW 

Down  to  the  time  of  Charles  Darwin,  organic  evolution 
rested  upon  observed  facts  only;  and  although  they 
formed  so  large  a  mass  of  evidence  as  to  bring  conviction 
of  the  truth  of  the  theory  to  the  majority  of  students,  it 
was  reserved  for  this  truly  great  man  to  discover  the 
actual  law  of  Nature  by  which  organic  evolution  is 
proved,  and  on  which  it  scientifically  rests.  From  the 
uniform  recurrence  of  observed  facts,  we  may  infer  a 
regular  order  of  Nature ;  but  until  we  have  discovered 
the  reason  of  that  uniformity,  we  can  never  be  certain 
that  it  is  necessitated  by  what  we  call  a  law  of  Nature. 
In  other  words,  until  we  know  the  causes  of  effects  we 
are  ignorant  of  their  laws.1 

To  Darwin  is  due  the  great  and  imperishable  glory  of 
having  discovered  the  natural  causes  which  are  at  work 
in  the  formation  of  organic  nature.  We  should  not  omit 
to  mention  here  that  another  great  naturalist,  Mr.  Alfred 
Russell  Wallace,  shares  this  glory  with  Darwin,  inasmuch 
as  he  also  made  the  discovery  at  the  same  time  that 
Darwin  did,  and  both  were  published  simultaneously. 
If,  therefore,  Mr.  Wallace  is  not  mentioned  again,  it  is 
not  that  we  would  not  render  to  him  the  honour  which 
is  his  due.  Indeed,  Mr.  Wallace's  name  is  well  known 
in  other  fields  of  inquiry — notably  his  contributions  to 
the  solution  of  the  great  and  important  problem  of  Land 
Tenure. 

It  was  long  known  to  breeders  of  animals  and 
cultivators  of  plants  and  flowers  that  great  modifications 
and  improvements  could  be  effected  by  careful  selection. 
If  a  certain  peculiarity  of  form  was  required   in    any 

1  In  the  first  chapter  of  Professor  Karl  Pearson's  "  Ethic  of  Free 
Thought,"  the  reader  will  find  this  subject  very  ably  treated. 

86 


Darwin's  Law  87 


animal,  the  breeder  selected  for  breeding  those  which 
exhibited  this  peculiarity  in  the  most  marked  degree ; 
and  those  again  of  their  descendants  and  others  in  which 
it  had  appeared  most  pronounced  and  developed.  And 
this  process  continued  through  a  number  of  generations, 
it  was  found  that  the  changes  which  could  be  effected 
were  practically  unlimited. 

Similarly,  in  regard  to  flowers  and  plants,  the  seeds, 
etc.,  of  those  that  possessed  the  required  modifications 
of  colour,  form,  etc.,  were  carefully  selected  for  sowing 
or  planting ;  and  this  process  continued  for  a  long 
period,  it  was  proved  that  almost  any  results  could  be 
obtained.  Witness  the  varieties  in  size  and  appearance 
of  the  horse,  the  dog,  the  pigeon,  etc.,  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  all  due  to  artificial  selection  by  the  breeders. 
And  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  we  need  mention  only 
one  example — the  rose.  Everybody  is  familiar  with  the 
fact  that  the  immense  number  and  great  perfection  of 
the  different  kinds  of  roses  are  due  to  selection  and 
cultivation.  But  the  subject  of  artificial  selection  in 
breeding  animals  and  cultivating  vegetable  products  is 
so  well  known  that  we  need  not  dwell  further  upon  it. 

Darwin  knew,  even  from  the  labours  of  his  prede- 
cessors, that  the  transmutation  of  species  was  brought 
about  by  inherited  modifications;  the  facts  of  evolution 
proved  this,  no  less  than  the  familiar  experiences  of 
artificial  selection.  And  the  task  he  set  himself  was  to 
discover  if  there  were  any  operative  principle  or  power 
in  Nature  analogous  in  its  action,  so  far  as  results  were 
concerned,  to  the  selecting  process  performed  by  the 
mental  purpose  of  man,  which  would  account  for  and 
explain  the  origin  of  species. 

He  knew  that  if  any  such  existed  it  could  only  be 
found  in  activities  of  the  widest  and  most  comprehensive 
character,  in  the  mechanical  laws  of  purposeless  necessity. 
In  his  quiet  Kentish  home,  in  the  beautiful  and  secluded 
village  of  Down,  after  years  of  deep  study  and  reflection, 
the  great  thought  took  shape  and  definite  form  ;  and 
the  result  was  the  widening  of  human  knowledge  by  the 
discovery  of  a  law,  the  very  existence  of  which  had 
scarcely  so   much   as   ever   entered   the   mind   of  any 


88  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

human  being  before ;  and  which  Kant,  only  a  few  years 
previously,  had  declared  to  be  beyond  the  range  of 
science  and  conceivability — maintaining  that  the  only 
possible  explanation  of  organic  growth  and  formation 
was  the  direct  intervention  of  an  ordaining  and  Infinite 
Mind. 

In  the  history  of  Man,  it  is  perhaps  the  one  grand 
exception  to  the  ancient  saying  that  "  there  is  nothing 
new  under  the  sun."  The  germs  of  nearly  every  great 
discovery  can  be  traced  back  almost  indefinitely,  and 
foreshadowed  by  previous  thought,  if  not  by  scientific 
fact ;  but  the  mechanical  law  of  organic  formation  and 
growth  had  no  history  before  it  was  born  in  the  great 
and  luminous  mind  of  Darwin.  Truly  we  may  say,  like 
a  god  he  came  upon  the  earth,  and  brought  a  new  light 
to  man — a  light  that  has  enlarged  the  boundary  of  our 
knowledge,  expanded  the  human  mind,  and  laid  the 
foundations  for  a  departure  in  philosophy,  science,  and 
social  progress,  so  great  that  no  one  can  estimate  the 
magnitude  of  the  results  which  will  ultimately  flow  from 
it.  It  will  permeate  with  its  penetrative  influences  every 
stream  of  thought.  Galileo's  dethronement  of  the  earth 
from  its  central  position,  Newton's  law  of  gravity,  George 
Stephenson's  locomotive,  are  perhaps  small  in  com- 
parison ;  and  they  have  done  much  to  emancipate  the 
mind  in  many  ways.  Many  superstitions  that  have  lain 
like  an  incubus  upon  the  soul,  paralysing  the  intellectual 
energies,  and  stunting  moral  and  material  growth  to  a 
degree  almost  beyond  the  power  of  realisation,  are 
destined  to  be  vanquished  by  the  light  that  Darwin  has 
shed  upon  us. 

"  This  idea  of  Natural  Selection  is  unquestionably  the 
most  important  idea  that  has  ever  been  conceived  by 
the  mind  of  man."  1 

"  It  was  the  theory  of  natural  selection  that  .  .  . 
created  a  revolution  in  the  thought  of  our  time,  the 
magnitude  of  which  in  many  of  its  far-reaching  conse- 
quences we  are  not  even  yet  in  a  position  to  appreciate ; 
but  the  action  of  which  has  already  wrought  a  trans- 
formation in  general  philosophy,  as  well  as  in  the  more 
1  Oscar  Schmidt,  "The  Doctrine  of  Descent,"  p.  156. 


Darwin's  Law  89 


special  science  of  biology,  that  is  without  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  mankind."  x 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  that  we  are  stating  the 
case  of  de  novo  discovery  in  too  unqualified  a  manner; 
inasmuch  as  Darwin  himself  has  told  us  that  he  obtained 
the  idea  of  Natural  Selection,  through  the  struggle  for 
life,  from  Mai  thus.  But  although  the  population  theory 
propounded  by  Malthus  may  have  initiated  or  suggested 
the  train  of  thought  which  ultimately  led  to  Darwin's 
grand  discovery,  it  was  not  in  any  sense  an  anticipation 
or  a  foreshadowing  of  the  theory  of  descent  by  natural 
selection.  To  what  extent  he  was  indebted  to  Malthus 
may  be  gathered  from  his  letter  to  Haeckel,  in  which 
he  says : 


"Having  reflected  much  on  the  foregoing-  facts,  it  seemed  to 
me  probable  that  allied  species  were  descended  from  a  common 
ancestor.  But  during  several  years  I  could  not  conceive  how  each 
germ  could  have  been  modified  so  as  to  become  admirably  adapted 
to  its  place  in  Nature.  I  began,  therefore,  to  study  domesticated 
animals  and  cultivated  plants,  and  after  a  time  perceived  that  man's 
power  of  selecting  and  breeding  from  certain  individuals  was  the 
most  powerful  of  all  means  in  the  production  of  new  races.  Having 
attended  to  the  habits  of  animals  and  their  relations  to  the  surround- 
ing conditions,  I  was  able  to  realise  the  severe  struggle  for  existence 
to  which  all  organisms  are  subjected  ;  and  my  geological  observa- 
tions had  allowed  me  to  appreciate  to  a  certain  extent  the  duration 
of  past  geological  periods.  With  my  mind  thus  prepared,  I  for- 
tunately happened  to  read  Malthus's  '  Essay  on  Population  ' ;  and 
the  idea  of  natural  selection  through  the  struggle  for  existence  at 
once  occurred  to  me.  Of  all  the  subordinate  points  in  the  theory, 
the  last  which  I  understood  was  the  cause  of  the  tendency  in  the 
descendants  from  a  common  progenitor  to  diverge  in  character." 

The  natural  cause,  therefore,  of  the  mutability  of 
organisms,  leading  to  the  origin  of  species,  he  found  to 
consist  in  the  never-ceasing  struggle  for  existence  which 
is  everywhere  going  on  amongst  all  living  things.  This 
struggle  develops  qualities,  powers,  faculties,  and  organic 
changes,  which,  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  develop- 
ment, give  their  possessors  advantages"  in  the  contest ; 
resulting  in  what  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  has  called 
1  "Darwin,  and  After  Darwin,"  p.  259. 


90  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


"Survival  of  the  Fittest,"  i.e.,  the  strongest  and  best 
equipped  for  the  incessant  battle. 

The  external  conditions  of  life,  under  which  food, 
pleasure,  immunity  from  danger,  etc.,  are  secured,  are 
infinite  in  number,  and  are  in  operation  every  instant  of 
time  ;  consequently  the  changes,  though  imperceptibly 
slow  and  gradual,  are  infinite  and  incessant.  One 
animal  preys  upon  another,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  ;  and  the  whole  earth  is  a  scene  of  slaughter. 
"  Nature  is  red  in  tooth  and  claw."  To  pursue,  catch, 
and  devour,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  avoid  being  caught 
and  devoured  on  the  other,  are  the  most  persistent 
activities  in  animal  nature,  and  the  most  potent  factors 
in  the  transformations  which  are  everywhere  going  on. 
The  weak  succumb,  the  strong  survive,  and  transmit  to 
their  descendants  the  qualities  and  powers  thus  acquired, 
which  make  them  the  best  fitted  to  cope  with  the 
opposing  conditions  of  their  surroundings. 

As  the  needs  of  animal  nature  are  ever  pressing,  so 
are  the  faculties  ever  vigilant  and  active  for  their  satis- 
faction. And  so  the  struggle  goes  on,  and  has  gone  on, 
without  intermission,  from  the  remotest  period  of  organic 
existence  on  the  earth,  down  to  the  present  moment. 
To  the  eye  that  could  take  in  a  panoramic  view  of  the 
great  and  the  small  over  the  entire  surface,  this  world 
would  present  an  appalling  spectacle  of  ferocity,  blood, 
and  carnage.  One  such  comprehensive  glance  over  the 
human  family  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  strike  terror 
and  despair  into  the  stoutest  heart. 

"  The  struggle  for  life,  this  belluni  omnium  contra 
omnes,  is,  moreover,  an  undisputed  fact,  which  we  here 
accept  in  its  widest  relations.  .  .  .  Organisms  live  only 
at  the  cost  of,  and  for  the  profit  of,  others  ;  and  the  peace 
and  quiet  of  Nature  sung  by  the  poet  is  resolved,  under 
the  searching  eye,  into  an  eternal  disquiet  and  haste  to 
assert  and  maintain  existence." l 

The  organic   world    is    bound   together   in    one  con- 
tinuous whole  by  a  mutual  dependence  so  absolute  and 
complete  that  the  effects  of  the  slightest  causes  are  felt 
far  and  wide  ;  and  in  many  cases  the  most  trivial  causes 
1  Oscar  Schmidt,  "The  Doctrine  of  Descent,"  p.  140. 


Darwin  s  Law  91 


will  sometimes  lead  to  the  most  far-reaching  and  im- 
portant consequences,  even  to  the  extermination  of 
whole  species  within  the  area  in  which  the  effects  are 
operative.  Darwin  has  collected  an  immense  number  of 
facts  showing  this  interdependence,  and  its  results  for 
and  against  the  preservation  of  life.  A  few  examples 
will  suffice  here.  To  the  south  and  north  of  Paraguay 
feral  cattle,  horses,  and  dogs  are  very  numerous,  while 
in  Paraguay  itself  there  are  none  to  be  found. 

"Azara  and  Rengger  have  shown  that  this  is  caused  by  the 
greater  number  in  Paraguay  of  a  certain  fly,  which  lays  its  eggs  in 
the  navels  of  these  animals  when  first  born.  The  increase  of  these 
flies,  numerous  as  they  are,  must  be  habitually  checked  by  some 
means,  probably  by  other  parasitic  insects.  Hence  if  certain  in- 
sectivorous birds  were  to  decrease  in  Paraguay,  the  parasitic  insects 
would  probably  increase,  and  this  would  lessen  the  number  of  the 
navel-frequenting  flies  ;  then  cattle  and  horses  would  become  feral, 
and  this  would  certainly  greatly  alter  (as,  indeed,  I  have  observed  in 
parts  of  South  America)  the  vegetation,  and  this  again  would 
largely  affect  the  insects,  and  this  the  insectivorous  birds,  and  so 
on  in  ever-increasing  circles  of  complexity." 

And  again,  Darwin  says  : 

"  I  find  from  experiments  that  humble-bees  are  almost  indis- 
pensable to  the  fertilisation  of  the  heartsease  (Viola  tricolor),  for 
other  bees  do  not  visit  this  flower.  I  have  also  found  that  the 
visits  of  bees  are  necessary  for  the  fertilisation  of  some  kinds  of 
clover  ;  for  instance,  20  heads  of  Dutch  clover  {Trifolium  repens\ 
yielded  2,290  seeds,  but  20  other  heads,  protected  from  bees,  pro- 
duced not  one.  Again,  100  heads  of  red  clover  (7*.  firatense)  pro- 
duced 2,700  seeds,  but  the  same  number  of  protected  heads 
produced  not  a  single  seed.  Humble-bees  alone  visit  red  clover, 
as  other  bees  cannot  reach  the  nectar.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  moths  may  fertilise  the  clovers  ;  but  I  doubt  whether  they 
could  do  so  in  the  case  of  the  red  clover,  from  their  weight  not 
being  sufficient  to  depress  the  wing  petals.  Hence  we  may  infer 
as  highly  probable  that  if  the  whole  genus  of  humble-bees  became 
extinct  or  very  rare  in  England,  the  heartsease  and  red  clover 
would  become  very  rare,  or  wholly  disappear.  The  number  of 
humble-bees  in  any  district  depends,  in  a  great  degree,  on  the 
number  of  field-mice,  which  destroy  their  combs  and  nests  ;  and 
Colonel  Newman,  who  has  long  attended  to  the  habits  of  humble- 
bees,  believes  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  them  are  thus  destroyed 
all  over  England.  Now  the  number  of  mice  is  largely  dependent, 
as  every  one  knows,  on  the  number  of  cats  ;  and  Colonel  Newman 
savs,  l  Near  villages  and  small  towns   I  have  found  the  nests  of 


92  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

humble-bees  more  numerous  than  elsewhere,  which  I  attribute  to 
the  number  of  cats  that  destroy  the  mice.  Hence  it  is  quite 
credible  that  the  presence  of  a  feline  animal  in  large  numbers  in  a 
district  might  determine,  through  the  intervention  first  of  mice 
and  then  of  bees,  the  frequency  of  certain  flowers  in  that  district.' " 

Hunger  is  the  strongest  of  all  incentives  to  action  ; 
and,  as  it  is  of  all  necessities  the  most  constant  and 
pressing,  it  is  a  permanent  factor  in  the  growth  of 
strength,  craftiness,  skill,  and  all  those  advantages  which 
enable  their  possessors  to  hold  their  own  against  all 
comers,  and  measure  themselves  against  rivals  armed 
with  any  sort  of  superiority.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  in 
such  a  contest,  maintained  throughout  the  organic  world, 
and  operating  without  intermission,  there  would  be  going 
on  slowly  and  gradually  a  development  of  qualities, 
powers,  and  organic  alterations,  rising  ever  higher  and 
higher  in  the  scale  of  fitness  and  perfection. 

The  slightest  advantage,  mentally  or  bodily,  by  con- 
stant use  grows  and  improves  ;  and  being  transmitted  to 
descendants,  by  whom  the  process  under  the  same  ever- 
active  stimulus  is  continued,  comes  in  course  of  time  to 
reach  such  a  degree  of  divergence  from  distant  ancestors 
as  to  constitute  entirely  new  species.  There  is  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  the  degree  of  transmission  of  ac- 
quired characters.  The  hereditary  influence  of  the  stock 
is  held  to  be  greater  than  that  .of  parents. 

We  can  mentally  represent  to  ourselves  this  process  if 
we  will  follow  in  thought  the  physical  growth  which  takes 
place  as  the  natural  result  of  all  muscular  exertion  ;  and 
then  consider  the  infinite  variety  and  complexity  of 
muscular  efforts,  which  are  constantly,  and  without  inter- 
mission, going  on  in  the  organic  world,  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  needs  of  hunger,  pleasure,  etc.,  etc.  It  may 
be  that  in  several  generations  only  the  slightest  per- 
ceptible alterations  will  take  place  ;  but  multiply  these 
small  deviations  by  some  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
generations,  and  we  see  at  once  that  absolutely  no  limit 
can  be  assigned  to  developmental  progress.  A  slight 
enlargement  of  the  muscles  here,  and  an  imperceptible 
decrease  there,  continued  through  a  sufficient  number  of 
generations,  will  carry  us  on  to  varieties  differing  from 


DarwiiJs  Law  93 


one  another  in  outward  appearance  to  almost  any  degree 
of  dissimilarity. 

And  with  regard  to  the  growth  of  intelligence,  every 
advance  is  correlated  with  physical  growth,  and  they  act 
and  react  upon  each  other.  Every  effort  one  animal 
makes  to  waylay  and  capture  another,  and  every  device 
to  which  the  pursued  creature  resorts  to  elude  its  pursuer, 
enlarges  and  improves  the  nerve  matter  of  the  organism, 
under  normal  conditions,  and  produces  a  greater  degree 
of  intelligence  ;  which,  again,  in  turn  acts  upon  the  nerve 
and  brain  substance,  producing  an  ever-increasing 
enlargement  and  superior  quality. 

Enlargement  of  the  physical  organs,  nerves  and  brain, 
to  which  mind  is  correlated,  acts  upon  the  intelligence, 
widening  its  scope  and  increasing  its  power ;  and  the 
intelligence  reacting  upon  the  material  organs  of  mind, 
causes  still  further  growth  of  those  organs.  Whenever 
the  intelligence  is  exercised,  this  effect  upon  the  brain  is 
a  necessary  consequence  ;  and  every  such  effect  increases 
the  capacity  of  the  brain  for  the  expression  of  greater 
power  and  activity.  This  interaction  is  inseparable  and 
constant,  and  the  primary  stimulus  is  hunger. 

The  mystery  of  mind  per  se  is  not  in  any  sense  touched 
by  the  knowledge  that  the  brain  is  its  material  exponent. 
Why  the  brain  cells  should  give  rise  to  what  we  know  as 
"  mind  "  is  a  profound  mystery,  for  which  no  solution 
can  be  found  in  either  philosophy  or  science.  A  know- 
ledge of  the  causal  connexion  between  the  two  amounts 
only  to  a  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  laws  of  their  co- 
ordination or  harmony  of  action,  the  connecting  of  effects 
with  their  causes. 

As  brain  is  the  material  organ  of  mind,  and  the  latter 
is,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  but  a  property  of  the 
former,  we  are  compelled  to  regard  mind,  in  all  its 
manifestations,  as  a  mode  of  physical  force  ;  the  ultimate 
analysis  of  which  is,  as  in  all  the  other  forms  of  force, 
motion.  The  peculiar  motion  of  the  brain  particles  gives 
rise  to  mind,  as  molecular  motion  is  known  to  give  rise 
to  light,  heat,  etc.  ;  and  deeper  than  this,  in  the  present 
state  of  knowledge,  we  cannot  penetrate.     Leaving  aside 


94  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


metaphysical  speculations,  when  we  have  said  mind  is  a 
property  of  matter,  we  have  to-day  said  the  last  word 
upon  the  subject,  and  have  reached  even  the  limits  of 
conceivability. 

The  selecting  influence  of  the  universal  struggle  for 
life  will  be  appreciated  by  considering  how  enormously 
procreative  power  exceeds  the  means  of  subsistence,  and 
how  few  of  all  the  creatures  that  are  born  can  possibly 
survive.  The  slowest  breeding  animal  is  the  elephant, 
and  yet  if  the  progeny  of  a  single  pair  were  allowed  to 
live  and  produce,  in  750  years  there  would  be  living 
19,000,000  of  their  descendants.  There  is  not  a  species 
of  animal  which,  if  it  were  allowed  to  breed  freely  and 
could  find  food,  would  not  in  a  few  years  overrun  the 
earth.  These  are  simple  facts  which  are  known  to  most 
people. 

Again,  with  regard  to  vegetables.  If  a  species  of 
annual  plant  produced  only  two  seeds  a  year,  and  these 
were  allowed  to  produce  their  kind  for  twenty  years  in 
succession,  there  would  be  1 1,000,000  plants  from  the  one 
ancestor.  These  two  cases,  cited  by  Professor  Romanes, 
suffice  to  show  how  soon  animals  and  vegetables  would 
cover  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth,  if  allowed  to  produce 
uninterrupted  by  any  causes  whatsoever.  But,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  two  examples  mentioned  are  below 
the  average  productive  powers  of  animals  and  plants,  as 
readers  know. 

Professor  Romanes  estimates  that,  taking  organic  nature 
as  a  whole,  not  more  than  one  in  a  thousand  of  all  that 
come  into  life  is  allowed  to  grow  to  maturity  and  pro- 
pagate ;  and  this  is  probably  an  extravagant  estimate  of 
the  number  that  survive  ;  but  it  serves  to  impress  us  at 
once  with  the  magnitude  and  intensity  of  the  struggle 
for  life  which  is  waged  amongst  all  living  things. 

That  the  survivors  will  be  the  fittest  to  live,  i.e.,  the 
best  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  their  environment,  and 
will  transmit  to  their  descendants  their  superior  qualities, 
are  facts  which  few  will  now  dispute.  These  qualities 
will  be  handed  down  by  heredity  in  unequal  degrees  ; 
so  that  in  every  generation  only  the  strongest,  as  a  rule, 
will  survive  and  breed.     And  thus  Nature  is  constantly 


Darwin *s  Law  95 


selecting,  for  the  continuance  of  each  species,  those  of 
its  members  which  are  best  adapted  to  succeed  in  the 
race. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  Nature's  fostering  care  is 
bestowed  only  on  the  species  ;  she  pays  little  or  no 
regard  to  the  individual  life,  except  so  far  as  it  serves 
the  welfare  of  the  species,  which  she  selects  from  a 
thousand  others  of  the  kind  solely  in  the  interest  of  the 
type.  "  Natural  selection  preserves  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual only  in  so  far  as  this  is  conducive  to  that  of  the 
species.  Wherever  the  life-interests  of  the  individual 
clash  with  those  of  the  species,  that  individual  is  sacri- 
ficed in  favour  of  others  who  happen  better  to  subserve 
the  interests  of  the  species."  l  And  as  there  is  a  con- 
stant warfare  going  on  among  individuals  for  the  preser- 
vation of  life,  resulting  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  so  is 
there,  in  like  manner,  a  continuous  struggle  waged 
among  tribes,  resulting  in  the  preservation  of  the  fittest 
types. 

The  mechanical  laws  of  necessity  kill  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-nine;  the  same  laws  preserve  one.  In  this 
there  is  no  purpose,  moral  or  otherwise ;  and  as  man,  in 
his  relations  to  himself 2  and  to  the  rest  of  Nature,  comes 
under  the  operation  of  the  same  purposeless  mechanical 
necessity,  in  this  connection  may  lie  the  solution  of  many 
problems  which  admit  of  no  satisfactory  explanation 
from  any  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world,  past  or 
present. 

In  every  case  the  advantages  developed  by  the 
struggle  for  life  are  subservient  to  the  interests  of  the 
individual ;  and  in  no  single  instance  will  any  changes 
occur  which  are  not  useful  in  some  way  or  other.  Indi- 
vidually, the  struggle  is  one  of  pure  selfishness,  exerted 
solely  for  the  attainment  of  personal  gain.  This  fact  has 
appeared  to  tell  against  the  application  of  natural  selec- 
tion to  the  social  instincts  and  the  moral  sense,  and  has 
been  seized  on  to  prove  that  they  could  not  have  been 
gradually  evolved   by   a   struggle   of  a   purely   selfish 

1  "  Darwin,  and  After  Darwin,"  p.  264. 

2  Witness  the  state  of  the  world  at  present— the  greed  of 
nations. 


g6  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


character.  The  moral  sense  is  altruistic — the  very 
reverse  of  selfishness — and  therefore  natural  selection, 
being  due  to  pure  selfishness,  cannot  have  given  rise  to 
the  moral  faculties. 

This  argument  has  often  been  used  ;  and  to  those  who 
are  unacquainted  with  the  full  meaning  of  natural  selec- 
tion it  appears  very  plausible,  if  not  quite  convincing. 
But  those  who  are  familiar  with  Darwin's  works  know 
that  he  did  not  limit  the  struggle  for  life  to  individuals, 
but  extended  it  to  communities. 

The  very  moment  that  two  persons  co-operate  together 
for  a  common  object,  the  results  of  each  individual's 
effort  in  part  pass  over  to  the  other,  and  the  germ  of  the 
altruistic  faculty  is  born.  The  fruits  of  their  combined 
labour  being  shared  by  both,  the  individual  gain  merges 
in  the  co-operative,  without  the  individual  losing  the 
sense  of  personal  advantage  arising  from  individual 
effort.  These  are  the  first  simple  elements  of  the  social 
organism.  Every  danger  that  threatens  one  threatens 
the  other ;  every  advantage,  broadly  speaking,  that  is 
gained  by  one  is  shared  by  the  other.  Henceforth  a 
bond  has  been  established — an  organic  birth,  so  to  speak, 
has  taken  place — which  will  go  on  growing,  by  addition 
of  members,  analogous  to  the  cell  process  by  which 
organisms  are  formed. 

And  as  the  formation  6f  the  organism  goes  on  by  the 
addition  of  cell  to  cell,  increasing  in  complexity  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  structure  or  type  of  the  being  to  be 
formed,  so  the  social  organism  goes  on  growing  and  in- 
creasing in  complexity  and  perfection  as  the  members 
increase  in  numbers.  The  growth  of  a  community 
necessitates  a  multiplicity  of  wants,  and  endless  contri- 
vances for  satisfying  those  wants  in  the  easiest,  most 
expeditious,  and  effective  ways,  resulting  in  what  we  call 
civilisation  and  progress.  The  community,  as  a  whole, 
will  have  a  unity  of  interest,  and  will  contend  against 
all  other  communities  for  every  advantage.  And  as  the 
social  forces  grow,  the  system  will  become  more  firmly 
organised  and  more  completely  co-operative,  through  the 
identity  of  interest  caused  by  the  never-ceasing  interaction 
of  all  the  members. 


Darwin's  Law  97 


The  analogy  between  the  individual  organism  and  the 
community  may  be  extended  still  further,  even  to  the 
dissolution  of  both.  When  the  former  has  run  its  course 
and  ceased  to  exist,  it  has  left  behind  in  the  community 
all  the  influence  for  good  or  bad  that  it  exercised  during 
the  period  of  its  existence.  No  human  being  ever  lived 
who  did  not  influence,  according  to  his  capacity,  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact.  Not  from  written  works 
alone,  or  the  material  records  of  man's  superior  genius, 
is  the  public  intelligence  formed,  but  from  the  interfusion 
of  all  the  individual  influences  of  the  community  that 
ever  lived,  both  great  and  small.  Every  single  human 
unit,  therefore,  bears  a  part  in  the  evolution  of  the 
sentient  and  intellectual  life  of  a  community,  although 
the  influence  is  not  always  towards  the  extension  and 
elevation  of  the  moral  character. 

In  like  manner,  every  community  influences  every 
other  community  with  which  it  has  dealings,  and  this  in 
ways  far  too  numerous  and  complex  to  specify.  During 
the  lifetime  of  a  nation  all  that  is  evolved  by  its  genius 
acts  upon  the  whole  civilised  world,  and  even  upon  the 
parts  that  are  outside  the  path  of  civilisation ;  and  when 
the  nation  decays  or  dies  out,  it  may  be  that,  in  addition 
to  the  influence  it  exercised  in  the  world  during  its  life- 
time, it  may  leave  behind  it  monuments  of  its  genius 
which  will  serve  to  instruct  and  develop  the  mind  of 
many  future  generations,  as  Greece  and  Rome  did,  for 
example.  And  thus  the  world,  upon  the  whole,  is  ever 
evolving  a  greater  degree  of  mind,  and  progressing  in 
those  institutions  and  arrangements  on  which  human 
happiness  and  welfare  depend.  The  sorrow  is  that 
progress  should  be  so  slow. 

Considerations  of  this  kind  help  to  explain  the  develop- 
ment of  the  co-operative  instincts  and  the  intelligent 
social  habits  ;  and  from  them  the  moral  sense,  such  as  it 
is,  has  been  evolved.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  all  previous 
development.  As  yet,  however,  the  moral  conscience, 
both  individually  and  nationally,  is  in  its  embryonic 
stage,  corresponding  to  the  condition  of  the  social 
organism  in  all  other  respects. 

Man,  socially,  has  scarcely  yet  thrown  off  his  swaddling 

G 


98  Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

clothes,  and  his  progress  towards  that  justice  and 
culture  which  Aristotle  says  will  bring  happiness  to  our 
race  is  no  further  advanced.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to 
attempt  to  explain  the  evolution  of  the  moral  sense. 
The  gulf  between  the  low  forms  of  life  and  all  that  is 
involved  in  the  highest  morality  is  apparently  impassable. 
The  connection  can  only  be  realised  in  thought,  by 
adequately  appreciating  the  minuteness  of  all  Nature's 
operations,  and  the  long  periods  which  are  necessary  to 
effect  any  changes  in  those  directions  which  we  charac- 
terise as  growth  and  development.  The  idea  contained 
in  the  saying  of  the  German  writer,  "  God  sleeps  in  the 
stone,  dreams  in  the  animal,  and  wakes  in  man,"  carries 
a  faint  allegorical  analogy,  and  is  both  beautiful  and 
suggestive. 

Between  the  lowest  and  the  highest  forms  of  the 
"  brute  creation  "  all  men  are  prepared  to  admit  that  the 
differences  are  only  in  degree — all  brute  action  being 
comprised  under  so-called  instinct  by  those  who  maintain 
that  there  is  a  radical  distinction  in  kind  between  instinct 
and  reason.  But  no  one  has  ever  been  able  to  show  a 
real  distinction.  All  that  has  been  written  in  favour  of 
classing  them  as  separate  in  kind,  by  analysis,  is  resolved 
into  mere  verbal  distinctions,  having  no  foundation  in 
fact. 

Man  performs  certain  specific  actions  for  the  attain- 
ment of  certain  specific  ends,  and  we  call  this  reason. 
The  dog  performs  certain  specific  actions  for  the  attain- 
ment ot  certain  specific  ends — as,  for  example,  when  he 
hides  a  bone  so  that  it  may  not  be  eaten  by  another  dog 
— -and  we  call  this  instinct.  Why  ?  To  this  question  no 
one  has  yet  given  a  satisfactory  answer.  To  say  that 
man  is  conscious  of  his  actions,  and  that  the  dog  is  not, 
is  only  to  beg  the  question.  There  is  no  proof  that  the 
dog  is  not  conscious  of  what  he  does  ;  on  the  contrary, 
there  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  he  is.  It  is  an 
arbitrary  assumption  which  is  unsupported  by  facts. 

The  dog  is  indeed  possessed  of  moral  faculties  in  no 
inconsiderable  degree.  Detected  in  a  wrong  action,  he 
at  once  manifests  a  sense  of  shame,  especially  towards 
those  he  loves.     When  death  deprives  him  of  his  master, 


Darwin's  Law  99 


he  is  fully  conscious  of  his  loss ;  and  no  one  can  observe 
him  closely  without  being  convinced  that  he  mourns  the 
death  of  his  friend  in  loneliness  and  heart-stricken  sorrow. 
Watch  the  pleasure  in  his  eye  and  bearing  when  those 
he  loves  speak  kindly  to  him.  And,  above  all,  will  he 
not  jeopardise  his  life,  and  indeed  sacrifice  it  freely,  in 
defence  of  those  to  whom  he  is  attached  ? 

Between  man  and  dog,  though  the  latter  cannot  use 
vocal  speech,  there  is  real  converse.  Among  the  moral 
faculties  in  man,  what  is  there  that  the  dog  does  not 
share  in  some  degree  ? 

The  non-progressive  character  of  animals  is  now  proved 
to  have  been  an  unfounded  assumption  ;  and  not  only  is 
it  inconsistent  with  evolution,  but  it  is  also  opposed  to 
observed  facts.  We  may  therefore  conclude,  from  a 
survey  of  all  the  facts  within  our  knowledge,  as  well  as 
on  a  priori  grounds,  that  from  the  beginning  of  life  in 
its  lowest  forms  up  to  man,  the  evolution  of  mind  has 
been  one  continuous,  gradual  growth,  culminating  in  in- 
tellectual power  and  moral  conscience,  the  material  basis 
of  which  is  chiefly  the  growth  in  number,  quality,  and 
combination  of  the  brain  cells.  Probably  every  cell  that 
is  added  to  the  brain  increases  its  power ;  and  the  main 
difference  between  the  man  of  low  intellect  and  the  philo- 
sopher is  one  of  difference  in  the  quality  and  number 
of  cells  composing  their  brains.  If  this  be  so,  what 
infinite  possibilities  await  our  race  in  the  future,  as  the 
brain  cells  increase  in  number ;  and  all  mental  activity 
tends  to  their  growth. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE    SOUL 

Evolution  has  shown  us  man's  place  in  Nature ;  and 
he  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  specially  created  being, 
for  whose  use  and  enjoyment  the  world  and  all  it  con- 
tains have  been  provided.  We  now  know  that  he  is  but 
a  part  of  the  great  organic  whole,  and  that  his  origin  and 
his  end  are  similar  to  those  of  every  other  animal.  All 
the  force  and  matter  of  his  composition  come  from  the 
earth ;  and,  we  must  conclude,  at  death  return  to  the 
earth.  And  throughout  the  entire  circle  of  his  being  it 
is  beyond  the  power  of  conceivability  to  grant  the  crea- 
tion at  birth,  or  the  annihilation  at  death  of  the  smallest 
fraction  of  the  matter  and  force  which  comprise  his 
whole  being.  They  are  a  part  of  the  cosmos  as  we  know 
it,  and  cannot  be  separated  from  it  in  thought  even. 

Life,  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  an  expression  of 
physical  force,  as  well  as  the  organic  character  in  its 
fundamental  relations,  is  common  to  all  living  things. 
And  as  man,  in  the  beauty  and  perfection  of  his  cor- 
poreal structure,  is  the  highest  outcome  of  the  latter,  so 
is  he,  in  the  combination,  range,  and  power  of  his 
intellectual  faculties,  the  greatest  and  most  perfect  mani- 
festation and  expression  of  the  former.  But  the  universal 
soul  animates  him,  as  it  also  animates  everything  that 
breathes  ;  and  the  life  of  the  Protista  may  be  as  appropri- 
ately designated  their  soul  as  anything  appertaining  to 
man  may  be  called  his  soul.  The  mechanical  source  of 
life  is  common  to  all  organic  creatures,  and  the  physical 
structure,  as  we  have  seen,  is  built  up  on  one  universal 
plan,  and  with  the  same  materials — yes,  literally,  with 
the  same  materials  ;  for  the  matter  that  composes  every 
human  body  may,  at  dissolution,  go  towards  the  forma- 
tion of  other  organisms.     And,  indeed,  we  know  for  a 

ioo 


The  Soul  101 


fact  that  in  course  of  time  it  must  do  so,  since  the  matter 
of  every  organism  goes  back  to  the  source  whence  it 
came,  thus  completing  the  organic  circle. 

The  food  of  life,  or  organic  material,  comes  from 
Nature's  larder,  and  when  the  forms  which  she  builds  up 
have  run  their  course,  it  goes  back  to  Nature's  larder 
again,  ready  to  be  served  out  in  the  formation  of  the 
endless  varieties  of  the  living  world.  And  so  on  in  one 
continuous  circle,  without  cessation  or  end.  In  every 
instant  of  time  the  reciprocal  actions  of  giving  out  and 
taking  in  are  going  on  ;  so  that  the  larder,  unlike  that 
of  the  poor  toilers  of  the  earth,  is  never  exhausted,  but 
at  all  times  contains  a  plentiful  supply  for  all  needs. 
Viewed  as  a  whole,  the  organic  world  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  earth,  which  takes  shape  continually  in  a  multi- 
tude of  forms,  through  which  the  stream  of  matter  is 
constantly  flowing  ;  and  may  be,  not  inaptly,  illustrated 
by  the  simile  of  Zeno's  cataract,  mentioned  in  a  former 
page ;  only  that  instead  of  the  entire  matter  being- 
changed  every  few  minutes,  it  takes  some  years  to  effect 
the  process.  In  the  case  of  man,  it  is  said  that  the  whole 
of  the  matter  of  his  body  is  renewed  once  in  seven 
years. 

Viewing  life  on  the  earth  as  a  whole,  it  also  appears 
to  be  an  integral  part  of  the  globe,  a  property  in- 
herent in  matter  ;  and  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  a  mode  of 
force,  the  total  quantity  of  which  remains  always  the 
same,  neither  more  nor  less.1  When  fire  in  the  grate 
dies  out,  it  means  that  the  force  which  made  fire  visible 
to  our  senses  has  been  absorbed  by  the  surrounding 
medium ;  but  not  a  particle  is  lost  or  annihilated. 
When  life  goes  out  of  us  it  may  mean,  in  like  manner, 
that  the  force  which  kept  life  in  us  has  travelled  off  in 
another  direction  ;  that  there  has  been  a  rearrangement 
of  molecular  combination,  due  to  altered  molecular 
motion  ;  but  every  particle  of  the  force  continues  to 
exist  under  other  modes. 

All    these    forms,  we   must   bear   in  mind,  are   only 
relative  to  our  senses,  through  which  alone  we  can  have 
any  knowledge  of  the  external  world.     The  quantity  of 
1  See  Sir  W.  Grove's  "  Correlation  of  the  Physical  Forces." 


102         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

this  life  force,  under  the  aspect  of  intelligence,  is  regu- 
lated by  the  growth  and  complexity  of  the  organism 
throughout  the  animal  kingdom.  Comparative  anatomy 
reveals  the  fact  that  as  the  nervous  system  (brain 
included)  in  animals  increases  in  complexity  and 
perfection,  so  to  the  same  degree  do  they  rise  in  intelli- 
gence ;  i.e.,  between  complexity  of  structure  of  the 
nervous  system  and  intelligence,  there  is  a  direct  and 
constant  ratio  which  holds  from  the  lowest  form  of  life 
up  to  man. 

If  evolution  is  true,  the  popular  conception  of  the 
human  soul  would  appear  to  be  erroneous.  To  scientific 
truths  we  must  perforce  give  our  assent,  as  the  most 
certain  of  human  knowledge ;  and  they  point  to  life  in 
all  its  phases  as  identical  with  what  we  know  as  physical 
force.  There  appears  to  be  no  escape  from  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  soul  of  man  is  included  in  this  force,  and 
has,  therefore,  no  separate  existence  apart  from  it. 
Evolution  irresistibly  forces  this  upon  us,  and  compels 
us  to  regard  the  soul  as  in  no  way  differing — except  in 
degree  of  development — from  every  other  manifestation 
of  life  in  the  organic  world. 

The  soul,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  gradual  de- 
velopment, emerges  from  its  environment,  and  at  the 
dissolution  of  the  organism  returns  to  it,  together  with 
the  matter  of  the  organism  of  which  it  is  but  a  property; 
similarly,  the  life  or  soul  of  every  other  animal  is  a  part 
or  mode  of  general  force,  to  which  it  returns  at  death. 
Anyhow,  whatever  views  may  be  entertained  respecting 
the  nature  of  life  or  soul,  the  ultimate  rational  analysis 
must  rest  in  force  ;  and  the  human  soul,  as  well  as  the 
life  or  soul  of  every  other  creature,  must  be  regarded 
as  a  product  of  Natural  Law — a  part  of  an  inseparable 
whole,  embracing,  at  least,  the  entire  world  that  we 
inhabit. 

The  conservation  and  correlation  of  force  teach  that 
the  sum  total  of  force  is  an  absolutely  constant  quantity, 
which  can  neither  be  diminished  nor  augmented  by  the 
smallest  conceivable  fraction.  But  if  it  were  true  that, 
at  the  birth  of  every  human  being,  a  soul  was  created, 
then,  with  the  advent  of  each  child,  a  new  and  additional 


The  Soul  103 


force  would  be  added  to  the  force  already  existing, 
which  would  be  a  contradiction  of  the  law  of  the  con- 
servation of  force — a  denial  of  the  truth  of  one  of  the 
most  important  laws  of  Nature. 

The  question,  Will  the  intelligence  or  mind  that  has 
been  evolved  in  this  condition  of  life  survive,  and  live  on 
in  another  condition,  in  a  world  of  its  own,  here  or  else- 
where ?  is  a  mystery  which  no  religion  has  touched  from 
any  intelligible  or  rational  standpoint.  The  late  Mr. 
F.  W.  H.  Myers,  in  his  "  Science,  and  a  Future  Life," 
seemed  to  believe  that  it  would  survive ;  and  that  it 
would  still  continue  subject  to  the  laws  of  evolution,  and 
to  develop  and  grow  without  limit  or  end. 

Ether,  when  we  know  more  about  it,  may  have  some- 
thing to  say  about  psychical  phenomena ;  but  how  far 
it  will  help  to  lift  "  the  veil  "  only  the  future  can  disclose. 
We  must  bear  in  mind  that  rational  man  is  in  his 
infancy,  that  he  has  lived  only  a  few  thousand  years  as 
yet,  and  that,  according  to  science,  he  has  to  live  on  this 
earth  several  millions  of  years.  What  knowledge,  there- 
fore, he  may  attain  to  in  his  maturity  is  beyond  the 
power  of  conjecture. 

Accepting  with  unquestioning  faith  the  Bible,  men 
have  been  driven  into  many  untenable  positions  ;  and 
committed  themselves  to  extraordinary  theories,  in  order 
to  make  the  Biblical  narrative  agree  with  the  subjects  of 
their  study.  Haller,  the  distinguished  physiologist,  pro- 
pounded the  theory  that  in  the  beginning  God  created 
all  the  souls  of  the  human  race — 200,000,000,000,  he 
calculated — and  placed  them  in  the  ovary  of  our  mother, 
Eve.  This  conclusion  was  fully  accepted  by  the  famous 
philosopher,  Leibnitz,  and  embodied  in  his  monadist 
theory.  Absurd  as  it  may  seem  to-day,  it  met  with  wide 
acceptance,  and  was  known  as  the  "  scatulation 
theory." 

We  know  that  the  soul  is  subject,  like  all  organic 
Nature,  to  growth  and  decay.  The  new-born  infant 
manifests  no  consciousness  of  its  actions,  they  being 
automatic  or  reflex.  The  intelligent  or  conscious 
principle  grows  with  the  growth  of  the  body,  and  decays 
with  the  decay  of  the  body ;  thereby  further  proving  its 


104         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

kinship  with,  and  subjection  to,  the  controlling  principle 
of  growth  and  decay  on  this  earth. 

In  all  its  manifestations  from  birth  to  death  it  is  under 
the  influence  of  the  physical  laws  of  Nature,  inasmuch 
as  we  know  that  it  is  affected  by  the  conditions  of  the 
body.  So  far,  therefore,  as  positive  knowledge  can  prove 
anything,  in  regard  to  so  mysterious  a  subject,  we  must 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  soul  is  an  inseparable 
part  of  this  world — can  neither  be  brought  to  it  at  birth 
nor  taken  from  it  at  death. 

Evolution  supposes  that  from  the  lowest  form  of  life 
up  to  man  the  development  of  the  soul  has  been  a 
gradual,  continuous  process,  the  same  in  KIND  throughout 
the  long  series. 

This  is  a  very  important  consideration  bearing  upon 
the  nature  of  death.  It  seems  to  merge  the  human  soul 
in  the  mundane  soul,  and  to  make  it  an  inseparable  part 
of  cosmic  force,  of  which  it  appears  to  be  a  mode.  In 
the  economy  of  Nature  it  seems  to  give  as  distinct  and 
as  important  a  personality  to  the  lower  forms  of  life  as 
to  man.  The  claim  upon  Nature  of  the  tiny  creature, 
too  small  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  is  co-extensive 
in  character  with  that  of  man — nay,  that  of  the  little 
speck  of  living  slime  is  equally  so.  From  these  con- 
siderations it  would  appear  that  the  millions  of  human 
beings  that  come  and  go  are  of  no  more  consequence  to 
universal  Nature  than  the  millions  of  other  organised 
beings  that  come  and  go ;  that  the  earth  is  indeed  the 
great  Mother  of  all,  and  that  all  things  that  draw  the 
breath  of  life  are  equally  her  children ;  to  one  and  all  of 
whom  her  laws  are  extended  without  distinction  or 
favour,  from  the  blade  of  grass,  if  you  like,  up  to 
man. 

Averroes,  in  the  twelfth  century,  believed  in  the  unity 
of  the  intellect — that  each  individual  soul  was  but  a  part 
of  the  universal  soul,  to  which  it  returned  at  death.  He 
anticipated  the  modern  theory  of  evolution,  regarding  the 
soul  as  a  part  of  universal  force. 

To  ascribe  to  man  a  "psychical  principle  "  or  soul 
different  in  kind  from  the  intellectual  life  of  animals, 
while  admitting  his  gradual  development  through  lower 


The  Soul  io5 


forms,  necessitates  a  superimpregnation  of  soul  in  man 
at  some  period  of  his  development,  which,  by  .breaking 
the  continuity  and  unity  of  Nature,  is  incompatible  with 
the  theory  of  evolution.  Moreover,  it  gratuitously  intro- 
duces an  element  of  greater  complexity  and  uncertainty  ; 
for  if  we  suppose  that  man  is  distinguished  from  the 
lower  animals  by  the  possession  of  a  soul,  and  grant  that 
he  and  they  have  a  common  origin,  the  question  arises, 
At  what  particular  period,  and  how  did  he  become 
possessed  of  this  soul?  Admitting  the  theory^  of 
evolution,  the  special  soul  idea  has  little  or  no  validity  ; 
and  is  not  only  incapable  of  proof,  but  receives  no 
support  from  any  branch  of  positive  knowledge.  There 
appear  to  be  two  conceptions  of  the  soul  by  which 
human  life  can  be  interpreted  in  terms  intelligible 
to  us. 

One  is  the  existence  of  a  Universal  Intelligence,  to 
which  the  soul  returns  at  death,  as  the  body  returns 
to  the  matter  of  sense.  This  is  cognisable,  if  we  rest 
content  with  postulating  the  Universal  Intelligence, 
without  attempting  in  any  way  to  define  it.  It  is 
evident  that  this  does  not  help  us  much  to  a  clearer  idea 
of  the  soul ;  and  is  tantamount,  many  will  contend,  to 
saying  that  the  soul  comes  from  God  and  goes  back  to 
Him — everything  depending,  of  course,  upon  our 
conception  of  God.  As  soon,  however,  as  we  attempt 
to  define  the  Intelligence  or  God,  the  soul  is  no  longer 
interpretable  in  terms  of  knowledge. 

The  other  is  the  conception  of  an  underlying  or 
interfusing  Force,  one  property  of  which  is  life,  in  all  the 
grades  known  to  us,  from  unconscious  (if  it  be  uncon- 
scious) protoplasm  up  to  conscious  man.  The  existence 
of  this  property  is  made  manifest  to  us  by  certain 
molecular  arrangements  ;  and  disappears  from  the 
organism  and  from  our  view  the  moment  rearrange- 
ments of  certain  kinds  take  place,  or  what  we  might  term 
a  redistribution  of  matter  and  force. 

The  main  difference,  it  seems,  between  these  two  ideas 
is  that,  whereas  the  first  supposes  the  existence  of  a  part 
of  the  universal  intelligence  to  be  located  in  the  human 
being  for  the  time,  and  separated  from  the  whole,  as  a 


io6        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

drop  of  water  from  the  ocean ;  the  second  regards  the 
soul  not  as  separated  from  the  universal  force,  but  as 
inseparable  from  it,  and  merely  one  of  its  qualities, 
which  at  death  is  transformed  into  some  other  quality, 
and  disappears  from  our  sense  perceptions,  as  a  flame 
disappears  when  it  is  blown  out,  though  nothing  has 
been  annihilated.  The  former  is  Brahministic,  the  latter 
Buddhistic,  and  both  rest  on  postulates  which  are  incom- 
prehensible, and,  in  their  ultimate  analysis,  indistinguish- 
able from  one  another.  The  modern  ideas  are  more  in 
sympathy  with  the  latter,  regarding  the  concept  of  force 
as  the  limit  of  inquiry.  And  this  idea  has  pervaded 
the  great  minds  of  the  world  from  the  earliest  times 
to  the  present.  Under  both  ideas  all  animal  life  is 
included. 

Many  have  regarded  life,  thought,  consciousness  as 
constituting  the  soul  of  man.  This  appears  the  most 
rational  view,  and  best  accords  with  evolutionary 
thought.  But  while  the  soul  may  be  nothing  more  than 
these  three  manifestations,  it  is  certain  they  differ  from 
one  another.  Thinking  can  be  very  active  when  the 
thinker  is  in  a  perfectly  unconscious  state,  as  Dr.  Car- 
penter has  shown  in  his  "Mental  Physiology."  How 
these  psychical  manifestations  are  created  in  the  brain 
we  shall  see  presently.  While  there  can  be  life  without 
thought  or  consciousness,  and  thought  without  conscious- 
ness, it  does  not  appear  that  there  can  be  consciousness 
without  the  other  two.  Thought  and  consciousness  are 
twin-sisters,  and  more  nearly  allied  to  each  other  than 
either  of  them  is  to  life,  being  more  recent  products  of 
evolution.  Between  life  and  consciousness,  however, 
there  is  a  deeper  distinction,  since  life  continues  when 
consciousness  has  entirely  disappeared,  as  in  sleep.  In  a 
perfectly  dreamless  sleep  the  functions  of  the  body  go  on, 
while,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  consciousness  is 
quite  dead.  When  I  am  perfectly  unconscious  it  matters 
little  to  me,  for  the  time  being,  whether  I  am  alive  or 
dead  ;  and,  so  far  as  regards  all  the  states  of  my  mind,  I 
am  really  dead,  being  as  incapable  of  feeling  pleasure  or 
pain  as  an  inanimate  object.  The  question  is,  Are 
consciousness  and  the  soul  one  and  the  same  thing,  and 


The  Soul  107 


due  to  molecular  construction  and  brain  organisa- 
tion ?  And  if  so,  is  consciousness  a  mode  of  physical 
force  ? 

If  we  regard  consciousness  as  constituting  what  we 
term  the  soul,  and  due  to  material  organisation,  then  at 
the  dissolution  of  its  seat  of  manifestation — the  brain — 
it  must  disappear  ;  but  we  know  that  it  disappears  under 
other  conditions  than  those  of  dissolution  of  the  brain. 
Is  it  possible  for  the  consciousness  to  survive  the  entire 
destruction  of  the  organism  ?  If  it  be,  then  a  future  life 
seems  possible ;  but  not  otherwise.  We  know  that  it  is 
quite  easy  to  produce  an  abnormal  physical  condition  in 
which  the  consciousness  ceases  to  exist  for  the  time,  so 
far  as  we  know. 

Suppose  a  person  under  the  influence  of  a  powerful 
anaesthetic;  in  which  state  for  several  hours  the  conscious- 
ness has  been  as  dead  as  a  stone,  and  the  human  machine 
has  been  as  near  as  possible  on  the  point  of  stopping 
altogether,  is  it  conceivable  that  at  the  exact  moment 
when  the  heart  gives  its  last  faint  beat  the  consciousness 
will  awake  in  another  world  ?  or  in  this,  and  take  its 
flight  to  another  place?  If  so,  it  must  be  under  condi- 
tions entirely  beyond  the  power  of  science  to  conjecture  ; 
and  those  who  maintain  this  belief  do  so  as  a  matter  of 
feeling  only.  There  is  no  disputing  the  question  with 
them  ;  it  can  neither  be  proved  nor  disproved,  nor  can 
they  be  dislodged  from  their  position  by  human 
knowledge. 

When  we  are  in  profound  sleep,  where  is  our  conscious- 
ness ?  The  activity  of  the  brain  is  correlated  with 
consciousness,  and  is  a  concomitant  of  dreaming.  Here, 
again,  would  appear  to  be  a  proof  that  consciousness  is 
a  property  of  the  brain  activity,  and  inseparable  from  it 
as  an  entity.  In  many  ways  we  infer  that  consciousness 
is  a  property  of  brain  matter  ;  but  there  is  not  a  single 
instance  in  human  experience  of  its  ever  having  existed 
apart  from  the  brain.  All  experience  goes  to  prove  that 
it  is  a  property  of  organic  matter.  Are  we  to  suppose, 
then,  that  it  will  still  continue  to  exist  after  the  organism 
has  been  completely  destroyed  and  resolved  into  inor- 
ganic matter?      Science,  experience,  analogy  offer  no 


io8         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


warrant  for  such  a  supposition  ;  feeling  alone  is  the  only 
warrant  for  it,  such  as  it  is. 

It  is  now  known  that  the  actions  of  the  mind  are 
located  in  certain  parts  of  the  brain,  and  that  they  are 
entirely  dependent  upon  the  healthy  condition  of  that 
organ.  Physiologists  and  psychologists  are  agreed 
that  all  the  phenomena  of  mind  are  functions  of  the 
brain,  and  that  "even  that  special  part  of  the  mental 
life  known  as  the  moral  realm  cannot  exist  but  as  a 
concomitant  of  special  changes  in  the  brain." 1  No 
mental  process  whatever  can  occur  without  a  corre- 
sponding molecular  change  in  the  brain  matter.  All 
mental  activity  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  the 
physical  activity  of  the  matter  composing  the  brain. 

"  Physiological  observation  and  experiment  deter- 
mined twenty  years  ago  that  the  particular  portion  of 
the  mammal  brain  which  we  call  the  seat  (preferably  the 
organ)  of  consciousness  is  a  part  of  the  cerebrum,  an 
area  in  the  late-developed  grey  bed,  or  cortex,  which  is 
evolved  out  of  the  convex  dorsal  portion  of  the  primary 
cerebral  vesicle,  the  fore  '  fore-brain '  .  .  ." 

The  most  important  development  is  the  discovery  of 
the  organs  of  thought  by  Paul  Flechsig,  of  Leipzig  ;  he 
proved  that  in  the  grey  bed  of  the  brain  are  found  the 
four  seats  of  the  central  sense-organs,  or  four  "  inner 
spheres  of  sensation  " — the  sphere  of  touch  in  the  vertical 
lobe,  the  sphere  of  smell  in  the  frontal  lobe,  the  sphere 
of  sight  in  the  occipital  lobe,  and  the  sphere  of  hearing 
in  the  temporal  lobe.  Between  these  four  "sense-centres" 
lie  the  four  great  "  thought-centres,"  or  centres  of 
association,  the  real  organs  of  mental  life  ;  they  are  those 
highest  instruments  of  psychic  activity  that  produce 
thought  and  consciousness.  In  front  we  have  the 
frontal  brain  or  centre  of  association  ;  behind,  on  top, 
there  is  the  vertical  brain,  or  parietal  centre  of  associa- 
tion, and  underneath  the  principal  brain,  or  "  the  great 
occipito-temporal  centre  of  association "  (the  most 
important  of  all) ;  lower  down,  and  internally,  the 
insular  brain  or  the  insula  of  Reil,  the  insular  centre  of 
association.  These  four  "thought-centres,"  distinguished 
1  Dr.  McKim,  "  Heredity  and  Human  Progress, '; 


The  Soul  109 


from  the  intermediate  "  sense-centres  "  by  a  peculiar  and 
elaborate  nerve-structure,  are  the  true  and  sole  organs 
of  thought  and  consciousness.  Flechsig  has  recently 
pointed  out  that,  in  the  case  of  man,  very  specific 
'structures  are  found  in  one  part  of  them ;  these  struc- 
tures are  wanting  in  the  other  mammals,  and  they, 
therefore,  afford  an  explanation  of  the  superiority  of 
man's  mental  powers. 

"The  momentous  announcement  of  modern  physiology 
that  the  cerebrum  is  the  organ  of  consciousness  and  men- 
tal action  in  man  and  the  higher  mammals  is  illustrated 
and  confirmed  by  the  pathological  study  of  diseases. 
When  parts  of  the  cortex  are  destroyed  by  disease  their 
respective  functions  are  afflicted,  and  thus  we  are  enabled, 
to  some  extent,  to  localise  the  activities  of  the  brain. 
When  certain  parts  of  the  area  are  diseased,  that  portion 
of  thought  and  consciousness  disappears  which  depends 
on  those  particular  sections.  Pathological  experiment 
yields  the  same  result ;  the  decay  of  some  known  area 
(for  instance,  the  centre  of  speech)  extinguishes  its 
function  (speech).  In  fact,  there  is  proof  enough  in  the 
most  familiar  phenomena  of  consciousness  of  their 
complete  dependence  on  chemical  changes  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  brain.  Many  beverages,  such  as  coffee 
and  tea,  stimulate  our  powers  of  thought ;  others,  such 
as  wine  and  beer,  intensify  feeling ;  musk  and  camphor 
reanimate  the  fainting  consciousness ;  ether  and  chloro- 
form deaden  it,  and  so  forth.  How  would  that  be 
possible  if  consciousness  were  an  immaterial  entity, 
independent  of  these  anatomical  organs?  And  what 
becomes  of  the  consciousness  of  the  'immortal  soul' 
when  it  no  longer  has  the  use  of  these  organs  ?  " l 

That  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  located  in  different 
parts  of  the  brain  seems  to  be  corroborated  by  well- 
known  instances  of  people  possessing  extraordinary 
intellectual  powers  in  some  directions,  while  being  almost 
entirely  deficient  in  others.  Newton's  brain-power  in  all 
matters  appertaining  to  physical  science  was  unequalled; 
yet  on  questions  of  theological  dogmas  the  critical 
faculty  was  almost  non-existent.  Several  "  calculating  " 
1  Professor  Haeckel,  "  Riddle  of  the  Universe." 


no        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


youths,  while  possessing  prodigious  memories  for  figures, 
and  aptitudes  for  complex  calculations,  have  been,  in 
all  other  respects,  in  no  way  remarkable  for  superior 
intelligence.  Many  instances  of  like  character  will 
occur  to  the  reader,  illustrative  of  the  physiological 
doctrine.  If  the  full  power  of  the  mind  acted  on  all 
subjects  presented  to  it,  the  presumption  is,  these 
phenomena  could  not  occur.  If  Newton  could  have 
turned  his  unrivalled  mathematical  faculty  upon  the 
Bible,  he  never  would  have  believed  in  creation  in  six 
days. 

It  is,  moreover,  scientifically  certain  that  we  do  not 
possess  the  power  of  free  will,  but  that  all  our  thoughts 
and  actions  are  determined  by  preceding  conditions.  In 
the  mental  as  in  the  material  world,  cause  and  effect  rule 
us.  If  we  could  trace  it,  we  should  find  that  every 
thought  is  linked  to  some  preceding  thought,  by  which 
it  was  necessitated ;  every  action  is  the  result  of 
preponderating  motives  ;  and  what  we  call  our  will  is 
apparently  nothing  more  than  our  consciousness  of  our 
physical  and  mental  activities.  If  the  will  is  free,  the 
basis  of  scientific  reasoning,  that  for  every  effect  there 
is  an  efficient  cause,  is  false ;  but  we  know  that  it  is  not 
false,  as  certainly  as  we  know  that  we  exist.  In  the 
chain  of  cause  and  effect  there  is  no  beginning  and 
no  end  ;  and  all  that  appertains  to  human  life  is  held, 
like  everything  else,  in  the  universal  nexus.  Paradoxical 
as  it  may  seem,  freedom  of  the  will  is  only  conceivable 
on  the  inconceivable  postulate  of  infinite,  unconditioned, 
absolute  existence ;  and  certainly  no  man  will  claim  for 
himself  such  existence. 

Inasmuch  as  consciousness  and  will  appear  to  be 
identical,  it  would  seem  that  the  recognition  of  con- 
sciousness is  the  same  as  the  recognition  of  will ;  but 
the  recognition  of  consciousness  would  necessitate 
another  conscious  self  within  us  ;  and  therefore  the 
recognition  of  the  will  would  also  necessitate  the 
existence  of  another  consciousness,  which  is  absurd. 
This  brings  us  to  the  insoluble  problem  of  what  con- 
sciousness is  in  itself.     We  know  some  of  the  physical 


The  Soul  in 


conditions  under  which  it  comes  and  goes,  and  there  we 
reach  the  limit  of  our  present  knowledge. 

Whatever  views  may  be  held  in  future  respecting 
another  life,  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
our  bodies  can  no  longer  be  accepted.  One  consideration 
alone  would  prove  the  physical  impossibility  of  such  a 
thing.  It  is  admitted  that  the  matter  of  which  we  are 
composed  belongs  to  the  earth — that  every  particle  of 
our  bodies  comes  from  the  earth,  and  returns  to  it  at 
death  and  dissolution.  The  available  material,  therefore, 
is  limited  and  fixed  ;  and  it  is  an  obvious  fact  that,  if 
we  assign  to  the  existence  of  man  anything  like  the 
scientific  age,  the  whole  of  that  available  material 
will  not  be  sufficient  for  all  the  human  bodies  that  will 
have  to  take  their  departure  at  the  end  of  the  world. 

As  an  argument  against  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
it  has  often  been  pointed  out  that,  in  the  course  of  years, 
the  matter  composing  any  human  being  may  be  scattered 
over  the  earth  ;    and  if  the  body  is  to  rise  again  at  the 
last  day,  millions  of  particles  will  have  to  be  recollected 
from    all    parts.       This    argument,    however,    is    only 
one    of  improbability ;    it    supplies    no    proof    against 
the    doctrine   of    resurrection.      It   is    quite    otherwise 
with    the    question    of    the    quantity    of    the    human 
material.      If    all    the   human    beings   that    have   ever 
existed    in    the    world    have    to    rise    again    in    their 
bodily  form  at  the  "day  of  judgment,"  it  is  certain  that 
they  cannot  appear  unless  all  the  matter  of  their  bodies 
can  be  found  ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  the  mass  of 
matter  composing  the  whole  human  race  from  first  to 
last  would  exceed  many  times  over  the  total  quantity  of 
matter  on  this  earth  of  which  the  human  body  is  com- 
posed.     We   saw  in    a   previous   chapter  that   organic 
matter  is  used  over  and  over  again  in  the  formation  of 
living  bodies  ;    so  that,  in  raising  the  dead,  it  will  be 
found    that    the   same    matter   has   gone   towards    the 
formation    of    countless    human    and    other    creatures. 
NeitJier   the  same    bodies,   nor    an    equal    number,  can, 
therefore,   ever  exist  again.      That   is  obvious  ;    and  it 
effectually  disposes  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body. 


112         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


From  every  reasonable  argument,  we  may  conclude 
that  the  planets  of  our  own  and  other  systems  are 
inhabitated ;  and  that  life  and  death  have  been  going 
on  indefinitely  in  the  past,  and  will  go  on  indefinitely 
in  the  future.  What,  then,  is  to  become  of  the  infinite 
number  of  existences  when  they  enter  into  their 
immortal  life  ?  When  this  world  has  run  its  course,  it 
will  have  produced  so  great  a  number  of  human  creatures, 
that  if  they  were  all  to  reappear,  there  would  not  be 
standing  room  for  them  ;  and  the  same  may  be  inferred 
of  every  other  world  in  the  Universe. 

Is  this  universal  and  infinite  process  of  birth  and  death 
a  rational  ground  for  belief  in  personal  immortality  ? 
Or  is  it  not  rather  a  strong  argument  against  it  ?  Hume 
long  ago  wrote  :  "  How  to  dispose  of  the  infinite  number 
of  posthumous  existences  ought  also  to  embarrass  the 
religious  theory.  Every  planet  in  every  solar  system 
we  are  at  liberty  to  imagine  peopled  with  intelligent 
mortal  beings ;  at  least,  we  can  fix  on  no  other  supposi- 
tion. For  these,  then,  a  new  universe  must  every 
generation  be  created  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  present 
universe,  or  one  must  have  been  created  so  prodigiously 
wide  as  to  admit  of  this  continual  influx  of  beings. 
Ought  such  bold  suppositions  to  be  received  by  any 
philosophy,  and  that  merely  on  the  pretext  of  a  bare 
possibility  ?  .  .  .  There  arise,  indeed,  in  some  minds 
some  unaccountable  terrors  with  regard  to  futurity ;  but 
these  would  quickly  vanish  were  they  not  artificially 
fostered  by  precept  and  education.  And  those  who 
foster  them,  what  is  their  motive?  Only  to  gain  a 
livelihood,  and  to  acquire  power  and  riches  in  this  world. 
Their  very  zeal  and  industry,  therefore,  are  an  argument 
against  them."  ] 

Again,  what  do  we  mean  by  a  future  life  ?  The  only 
thing  about  us  that  can  be  annihilated  is  consciousness. 
Matter  and  force  remain  indestructible.  It  matters  not 
to  me  here  whether  or  not  I  had  a  previous  existence, 
inasmuch  as  the  continuity — if  I  had  a  past  life — was 
broken,  and  I  am,  therefore,  like  two  different  persons. 
By  a  future  life,  for  the  same  reason,  we  must  mean  a 
1  David  Hume,  "  On  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul." 


The  Soul  113 


prolongation  or  survival  of  our  consciousness,  a  carrying 
with  us  to  the  next  world  of  all  our  knowledge  and 
remembrances  of  this,  so  that  we  may  meet  and  know 
again  those  whom  we  knew  in  this  life.  This  pre- 
supposes an  indestructibility  of  consciousness,  by  the 
terms  of  the  argument  ;  but  we  know  from  experience 
that  the  consciousness  is  temporarily  destructible.  Is 
that  temporary  destructibility,  then,  only  possible  while 
the  brain  is  a  living  organ,  and  impossible  the  moment 
it  ceases  to  be  a  living  organ?  Such  an  assumption 
seems  almost  a  reductio  ad  absurdum. 

Science  and  experience  offering  no  warrant  for  a 
belief  in  a  future  life,  we  must  fall  back  again  upon 
feeling ;  and  what  does  this  amount  to  ?  We  desire, 
passionately  long,  many  of  us,  to  live  beyond  this  life,  to 
meet  again  those  who  are  gone  from  us,  and  whom  we 
loved  ;  we  shrink  from  the  thought  of  annihilation, 
eternal  nothingness,  when  this  life  of  disappointments  and 
sorrow  is  ended.  We  think  of  our  parents,  of  our  wives 
and  children,  of  our  friends,  and  the  heart  repudiates  the 
justice  of  any  divine  ordinance  which  has  brought  into 
being  so  much  love  and  affection  only  to  be  destroyed 
for  ever  in  the  grave. 

In  every  human  life  a  tragedy  is  enacted,  and  we  in- 
stinctively yearn  for  a  better  and  happier  home  hereafter, 
where  the  soul's  hunger  shall  be  satisfied,  and  all  the 
weary  unrest  shall  be  ended  ;  when  brotherly  love  shall 
take  the  place  of  strife,  and  the  heart  shall  know  no 
more  sorrow. 

We  look  into  this  vast  fabric  of  Nature,  with  all  its 
solemn  grandeur,  until  the  mind  becomes  bewildered  and 
lost  in  the  awful  immensity  ;  and  we  ask  ourselves  in  fear 
and  dread  if  there  is  never,  in  all  the  ages  to  come,  to  be 
any  explanation  of  the  great  mystery.  Eternity  behind 
us,  eternity  before  us  ;  our  lives  a  mere  speck  in  the  ever- 
lasting, illimitable  void  !  The  thought  appals  us,  the 
intellect  is  distracted,  and  the  soul  takes  refuge  in 
emotional  aspiration. 

Philosophy  interposes,  and  in  the  higher  region^  of 
thought  declares  that  explanation  is  an  inconceivability, 
that  the  conditions  of  our  mental  constitution  and  pro- 

H 


1 14        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

cesses  of  thought  confine  us  absolutely  to  the  human 
circle,  beyond  which  the  mind  is  impotent  to  act. 
Strive  as  we  may  to  penetrate  the  "  hereafter  "  in  search 
of  some  satisfaction  to  the  eternal  craving  for  a  solution 
of  the  mystery,  those  conditions  inexorably  draw  us 
back  to  this  finite  life ;  and  dissolve  the  fabric  of  every 
intellectual  aspiration  which  we  build  with  the  materials 
of  experience.  And  what  other  materials  have  we  for 
even  the  highest  and  most  abstract  flights  of  the  mind  ? 
A  future  life  is  unthinkable,  God  is  inconceivable,  and 
yet,  as  George  Eliot  said,  duty  remains  as  the  most  im- 
perative of  all  calls  upon  us  in  our  social  relations.  It 
is  a  profound  mystery  about  which  science  and  philo- 
sophy must  be  silent,  and  the  emotional  cravings  confined 
to  each  individual. 


CHAPTER  IX 

EVOLUTION    OF   RELIGIOUS   IDEAS 

To  understand  the  genesis  of  religions,  we  must  trace 
them  back  to  the  origin  of  the  religious  ideas.  Each 
religion  claims  for  itself  an  independent  and  supernatural 
origin,  while  to  all  others  it  ascribes  a  natural  origin 
only.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  to  investigate  the  subject 
with  an  unbiassed,  impartial  mind,  the  investigator  must 
himself  be  free  from  the  dominating  influence  of  any 
particular  religion.  Where  faith  exists,  the  reason  is 
necessarily  non-existent.  "Where  faith  begins, knowledge 
ends." 

At  the  same  time,  while  claiming  the  right  to  treat 
the  subject  of  religion  as  a  branch  of  human  knowledge, 
and  by  those  methods  of  investigation  which  we  apply 
to  every  other  subject  of  inquiry,  I  am  not  unmindful  of 
the  obligation  which  is  imposed  upon  us  all  to  hold  in 
respect  those  opinions  and  beliefs  in  which  many  genera- 
tions of  men  have  lived  and  died.  I  am  fully  impressed 
with  all  that  is  expressed  and  implied  in  the  beautiful 
words  of  Dr.  Draper :  "  No  spectacle  can  be  presented 
to  the  thoughtful  mind  more  solemn,  more  mournful, 
than  that  of  the  dying  of  an  ancient  religion,  which  in 
its  day  has  given  consolation  to  many  generations  of 
men." 

However  untenable  to  us  may  appear  many  of  the 
religious  beliefs  of  the  past,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
they  were  matters  of  solemn  and  deep  concern  to  those 
who  held  them  ;  and  that  as  we,  with  our  greater  know- 
ledge, look  back  upon  those  religions,  so  will  our 
descendants  in  a  still  more  enlightened  age  regard  the 
faiths  of  to-day.  Religious  conceptions  in  all  ages  are 
relative  to  intellectual  progress,  and  to  this  law  there  is 
no  exception. 

ii5 


1 1 6         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


Another  great  truth  which  modern  research  has 
brought  to  light  is,  that  no  religion  has,  properly  speak- 
ing, a  de  novo  beginning,  but  all  are  derived  more  or 
less  from  pre-existing  forms.  In  this  respect  religions, 
like  everything  else,  obey  the  great  law  of  evolution ; 
they  are  all  unfolded  from  and  built  up  upon  previously 
existing  elements.  They  are  all  more  or  less  derivative, 
and  the  chief  doctrines  may  be  said  to  be  common  to 
most  of  them.  From  the  earliest  attempts  of  human 
reason,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  them,  to  account  for  the 
mysteries  of  Nature  and  of  life,  down  to  the  present 
moment,  all  that  is  included  under  the  name  of  religion 
has  been  a  long,  continuous  series  of  growth  and 
development,  under  the  evolutionary  law  of  inheritance 
and  adaptation. 

In  early  times,  when,  so  far  as  we  know,  man  was 
unacquainted  with  any  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  or,  at  all 
events,  had  but  the  most  primitive  knowledge  of  them, 
it  was  a  necessity  of  his  ignorance  that  he  should  ascribe 
natural  phenomena  to  beings  similar  in  Nature  to 
himself,  but  endowed  with  far  greater  powers,  as  savages 
and  barbarous  peoples  do  to-day  in  many  parts  of  the 
world  ;  and,  indeed,  as  we  ourselves  did  only  a  few 
generations  back.  In  the  infancy  of  his  mind  man  had 
no  guide  within  himself  either  for  the  regulation  of  his 
material  concerns  or  for  those  inward  necessities  of 
thought  and  feeling  which  exist  even  in  the  earliest  and 
most  backward  races  of  men.  And,  consequently,  ex- 
ternal Nature  had  for  him  a  direct,  close,  and  personal 
significance. 

^The  vastness  of  the  Universe  was  a  thought  that  never 
entered  his  mind,  and  one  which  he  was  as  incapable  of 
entertaining  as  would  be  the  child  just  learning  to  lisp 
its  mother's  name.  The  uninformed,  undeveloped  mind 
looked  through  its  senses  out  upon  its  surroundings,  and 
the  information  they  conveyed  was  neither  more  nor 
less  than  the  mind  was  capable  of  receiving  and  assimi- 
lating. His  mind  was  able  to  receive  and  assimilate 
very  little,  indeed  ;  and  hence  his  natural  habitat 
appeared  to  him  a  simple  thing  of  very  small  dimen- 
sions.    His  helplessness  being  great  and  his  conscious- 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  117 


ness  of  power  very  small,  he  was  peculiarly  susceptible 
to  outward  impressions  ;  and  he  possessed  an  inherent 
tendency  to  personalise  all  natural  phenomena,  especially 
those  from  which  he  could  suffer  in  any  way,  and  to 
project  into  them  the  attributes  with  which  he  himself 
was  endowed. 

The  continuity  of  mental  sequence  receives  a  remark- 
able illustration  in  the  parallel  processes  of  the  mental 
activities  of  early  man,  and  those  of  some  thinkers  of 
modern  times.  As  early  man  endowed  external  Nature 
with  his  own  personal  attributes,  so  do  the  thinkers 
referred  to  make  the  law  of  their  own  conceptive  faculty 
the  law  of  Nature.  Only  the  thinkable  is  possible.  "  I 
perceive,"  says  the  thinker,  "  the  order  of  Nature  occur- 
ring in  the  only  manner  in  which  I  can  think  the 
succession  possible."  And  he  concludes  :  "  It  is  human 
thought  which  dictates  the  laws  of  the  Universe ;  only 
what  man  thinks  can  possibly  be.  .  .  .  Nay,  paradoxical 
as  it  may  seem,  there  is  much  truth  in  the  assertion  that 
it  is  the  mind  of  man  which  rules  the  Universe." * 
Across  the  long  ages  primitive  man  and  the  philosopher 
may,  therefore,  shake  hands.  The  categories  are  dif- 
ferent, but  the  unity  is  complete.  The  real  mystery  is 
as  great  to  us  as  it  was  to  him. 

For  the  most  primitive  form  of  the  historical  religious 
idea  we  must  go  to  Egypt ;  not  that  Egypt  was  the 
birthplace  of  religion,  but  because  it  contains  for  us  the 
oldest  germs  on  record.  The  Egyptians  themselves,  as 
Herodotus  tells  us,  probably  looked  back  upon  much 
older  civilisations,  which  have  completely  passed  away, 
and  left  behind  them  no  monumental  vestiges  of  any 
kind  whatsoever.  If  this  were  so,  probably  the  earliest 
Egyptians  derived  their  ideas  from  still  older  peoples  ; 
and  we  may  almost  conclude  from  comparative  sociology 
that  this  was  so  to  some  extent. 

In  reality,  we  cannot  get  to  the  origin,  i.e.,  the  absolute 
beginning,  of  the  religious  ideas.  So  far  as  is  known, 
the  glimmering  consciousness  of  the  anthropoidal  apes 
may  be  imbued  with  a  dim  conceptual  feeling,  and  a 
vague,  unformulated  perception  of  the  mystery  of  their 
1  Karl  Pearson,  "  Ethic  of  Freethought,"  p.  31. 


n8         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

being.  But  we  need  not  go  beyond  man  in  the  early 
stages  of  reason  for  the  ideas  we  are  in  search  of.  A 
wide  range  of  induction,  extending  over  several  thousand 
years,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  is  at  our  service, 
supplying  us  with  innumerable  facts  as  to  the  mental 
processes  by  which  all  races  have  evolved  their  super- 
natural beings,  or  gods.  As  some  of  those  processes  of 
primitive  times  survive  in  forms  which  have  come  down 
to  us,  and  are  still  in  use,  so  in  like  manner  we  may  see 
them  operating  at  the  present  time  among  uncivilised 
races  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 

There  are  chiefly  two  groups  of  facts  from  which  man 
originally  created  his  gods,  though  they  meet  and 
coalesce  in  many  points  in  the  mental  and  emotional 
processes  of  manufacture.  One  is  the  apotheosis  of  the 
material  objects  of  sense  ;  the  other  the  apotheosis  of 
chiefs  and  other  great  personages,  and  the  subjective 
states  of  dreams,  etc.,  giving  rise  to  a  belief  in  the  exist- 
ence of  an  incorporeal  double  or  ghost.  These  are 
apparently  the  chief  elements  out  of  which  all  the  re- 
ligions of  the  world — the  dead,  the  dying,  and  the  living 
— have  been  evolved  ;  and  there  is  not  one  religion  which, 
in  its  chief  dogmas,  does  not  contain  proofs  of  its 
origin. 

It  will  help  to  an  understanding  of  the  workings  of 
the  intellect,  through  which  the  idea  of  a  deity  has  been 
obtained,  if  we  keep  before  us  the  important  truth  that 
the  mind  cannot  be  reached  or  acted  upon,  can  receive 
no  impressions  or  ideas,  except  through  the  medium  of 
the  senses.  Whatever  mind  in  itself  may  be,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  all  our  knowledge  of  the  external  world  is 
derived  through  the  intermediate  agency  of  the  senses  ; 
and  this  is  the  basis  of  all  ideas.  This  fundamental  law 
is  irresistible  in  destroying  whole  hosts  of  religious 
myths  in  all  creeds.  Indeed,  I  think  we  might  go  the 
length  of  saying  that,  if  rigidly  and  logically  applied,  it 
would  dissolve  the  whole  fabric  of  theological  dogmas. 
This,  however,  though  I  believe  it  to  be  literally  true,  is 
a  wide  generalisation,  and  is  as  easily  denied  as  affirmed. 
Its  truth,  I  hope,  will  appear  manifest  as  we  proceed. 

The  two  most  powerful  agents  in  man  in  giving  birth 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  119 


to  religious  ideas  are  Fear  and  Hope.  In  early  ages, 
when  men  were  struggling  painfully  and  slowly  put  of 
savage  and  barbarous  conditions,  and  when  little,  if  any, 
progress  had  been  made  in  combating  the  forces  of 
Nature  and  making  them  subservient  to  their  use,  they 
were  the  helpless  victims  of  such  forces.  The  thunder 
appalled  them,  the  lightnings  scared  them,  and  the  wind 
and  rain  produced  suffering  and  misery  in  many  ways. 
Inundations  swept  away  their  homes,  destroyed  their 
crops,  flocks  and  herds— in  later,  though  still  compara- 
tively early,  stages — and  wrought  devastation  and  ruin 
to  themselves  and  those  they  loved. 

The  activities  of  Nature  could  only  be  paralleled  in 
the  mind  of  early  man  by  personal  activity.  Inanimate 
Nature  around  him  could  not  move  except  by  the  action 
of  living  agents  ;  and  he  came,  by  the  force  of  analogy, 
to  look  upon  the  elements  as  living  beings  like  himself, 
only  much  more  powerful.  The  elements  injured  him, 
and  the  spectacle  of  oppression  being  familiar  enough  to 
him  in  all  his  human  relations,  analogy  again  directed 
him,  and  he  supplicated  the  elements  with  prayer  and 
propitiatory  offerings,  as  he  did  the  powerful  human 
beings  who  controlled  him,  and  very  often  made  him 
suffer.  A  deafening  clap  of  thunder  bursting  suddenly 
over  his  head,  accompanied  by  a  flash  of  lightning,  rift- 
ing and  blasting  great  trees,  and  dealing  death  and 
destruction  around,  were  to  his  simple  mind  irresistible 
and  awful  portents  of  the  wrath  of  mighty  celestial 
beings,  before  whom,  in  his  fear,  it  was  the  most  natural 
thing  that  he  should  prostrate  himself,  and  offer  up 
prayer.  , 

In  time  these  malevolent  gods  grew  into  a  hierarchy 
of  many  grades,  and  became  as  numerous  as  the  ills  and 
misfortunes  of  life.  In  every  religion  known  to  man  the 
evil  gods  have  had  their  place.  These  supernatural 
beings  have  played  in  the  Christian  religion,  as  everyone 
knows,  a  prominent  part ;  and  it  is  only  comparatively 
recently  that  belief  in  numerous  devils  has  given  place 
to  a  belief  in  one  only.  And  possibly  his  Satanic 
Majesty  is  now  on  his  way  to  follow  the  rest  of  his 
brethren. 


120         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

Concurrently  with  belief  in  evil  gods  arose  belief  in 
good  ones.  After  the  raging  elements  have  subsided, 
the  genial  sun  comes  forth  to  warm  and  cheer  the  poor 
victim,  producing  a  sense  of  comfort  and  happiness. 
The  sun  was  a  very  real  and  beneficent  thing  to  early 
man,  as,  indeed,  it  is  to  all  of  us.  He  felt  its  benign 
influence  in  a  hundred  ways.  In  its  absence  reigned  the 
evil  influences  which  worked  him  mischief;  and  when  it 
reappeared  the  whole  aspect  of  Nature  was  changed,  and 
his  fear  gave  way  to  confidence,  love,  and  hope.  And 
he  looked  upon  the  sun  as  the  chief  among  the  good 
gods,  whose  mission  it  was  to  chase  away  the  evil  ones, 
and  minister  to  his  comfort  and  happiness  in  an  endless 
variety  of  ways. 

So  with  the  moon  :  it  drove  away  to  some  extent  the 
darkness,  which  to  the  mind  of  primitive  man  was  a  real 
presence,  giving  shelter  to  a  host  of  evil  ones.  The 
calm  light  of  the  moon  had  no  terrors  for  him  ;  on  the 
contrary,  its  mystic  splendour  entered  deeply  into  his 
dark,  clouded  soul,  and  produced  a  soothing  effect, 
which  perhaps  helped  greatly  to  unfold  and  develop  his 
dawning  intelligence. 

We  may,  in  imagination,  transport  ourselves  back 
into  the  early  part  of  man's  life,  and  picture  him  regard- 
ing wistfully,  and  with  feelings  of  wonder  and  admira- 
tion, not  unmixed  with  some  awe,  the  bright  full  moon 
shedding  its  peaceful  light  over  the  hushed  and  quiet 
landscape.  Such  scenes  must  have  exercised  consider- 
able influence  over  the  mind  in  the  earliest  stages.  And 
even  to  us  now  a  bright  moonlight  night  is  not  without 
its  influence  in  developing  the  intellect  by  intensify- 
ing thought  and  emotion.  The  moon,  therefore,  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  good  gods. 

"The  sun  and  moon  move  as  living  gods  in  the  heaven,  or  at 
least  are  drawn  or  driven  by  celestial  powers,  while  the  presence 
of  living  beings  in  the  sky  seems  peculiarly  manifest  in  eclipses, 
when  invisible  monsters  seize  and  swallow  the  sun  and  moon.  All 
this  is  very  natural ;  so  natural,  indeed,  that  more  correct  astronomy 
has  not  yet  rooted  it  out  of  Europe."  1 

1  E.  B.  Tylor,  "Anthropology,"  p.  332. 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  121 


The  stars,  in  much  more  complex  ways,  influenced  the 
minds  of  the  early  Egyptians  in  evolving  their  multi- 
tudinous gods.  The  configuration  of  the  country,  the 
climate,  and  especially  the  annual  overflowing  of  the 
Nile,  were  in  great  measure  answerable  for  the  initiatory 
processes.  Those  who  are  desirous  of  believing  that 
man  has  degenerated  from  the  perfect  condition  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  "  Garden  of  Eden  "  would  have  us 
believe  that  the  gods  of  Egypt  were  symbols  of  the 
attributes  of  one  god,  and  that  in  the  earliest  times  the 
Egyptians  worshipped  one  deity  only.  But  this  appears 
to  be  a  gratuitous  assumption,  and  as  void  of  foundation 
as  the  myth  about  the  Garden  of  Eden  itself.  The 
deified  animals,  etc.,  bore  incidental  relations  to  the  stars, 
and  hence  came  to  be  identified  with  them  and  their 
supposed  influences.  The  simple,  untutored  mind, 
having  noticed  that  certain  stars  were  invariably  visible 
at  times  when  certain  animals  were  most  in  evidence, 
formed  such  groups  of  stars  figuratively  into  the  animals 
in  question,  and  gave  to  each  group  the  name  correspond- 
ing to  each  animal.  In  this  way  the  constellations  were 
formed,  and  both  came  to  be  regarded  as  gods. 

It  is  surely  paying  the  Egyptian  character  a  poor  com- 
pliment to  assume  that  after  having  arrived  at  the 
advanced  conception  of  the  unity  of  the  deity  they 
should  have  symbolised  his  attributes  in  all  the  animals 
of  the  country,  and  offered  to  them  the  homage  and 
worship  which  they  formerly  bestowed  on  their  one  God 
only.  Those  who  accept  this  view  are  landed  in  this 
paradox,  viz.,  that  while  the  intellect  of  Egypt  progressed 
in  every  other  respect,  in  that  of  theology  alone  it 
retrograded  and  became  demoralised.  While  it  was 
making  great  strides  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences  of  life, 
and  growing  into  a  powerful  nation,  it  was  at  the  same 
time  becoming  enfeebled  in  intellect  in  the  matter  of 
religion. 

Necessity  is  ever  the  source  of  invention.  And  when 
the  first  tribes  of  Egypt  turned  their  attention  to 
agriculture,  they  found  it  necessary  to  establish  means 
by  which  to  calculate  the  recurrence  of  innumerable 
events  ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  duration  and  succes- 


122         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

sion  of  the  seasons,  months,  and  years,  the  periodic 
return  of  similar  operations  of  Nature,  etc.  For  this 
purpose  it  was  necessary  to  study  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies — sun,  moon,  stars,  and  planets — which, 
by  their  reappearance  at  fixed  intervals,  enabled  them 
to  measure  regular  periods  of  time  ;  and  so  regulate  by 
them  their  agricultural  operations. 

All  motions  in  those  days  were  associated  with  life, 
and  accordingly  the  heavenly  bodies  were  believed  to  be 
powerful  celestial  beings,  and  in  some  cases  the  bright 
abodes  or  palaces  of  those  beings.  They  were  looked 
upon  as  the  governing  powers  on  earth,  and  soon  a 
hierarchy  of  grades  grew  up  among  them,  to  each  of 
which  were  assigned  special  functions.  And  thus  the 
simple  worship  of  the  stars  grew  up  among  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  How  they  came  to  be  identified  with  the 
animals  is  ingeniously  shown  in  that  most  remarkable 
work,  Volney's  "  Ruins  of  Empires,"  in  which  he  traces 
the  origin  of  all  religions  to  nature  myths. 

For  the  genesis  of  deity,  then,  under  every  conceivable 
form,  as  also  for  the  origin  of  the  belief  in  the  survival  of 
the  soul  after  death,  we  must  go  back  to  uncivilised  man, 
though  it  is  true  many  races  have  existed,  and  do  exist  at 
the  present  moment,  without  the  slightest  idea  of  God, 
soul,  or  a  future  state.  It  is  well  known,  from  a  wide  in- 
duction of  experience,  that  there  are  many  primitive 
people  who  do  not  possess  any  religious  conceptions 
whatsoever.  It  is  also  known  that  among  civilised 
peoples  those  minds  which  through  defective  senses  have 
been  cut  off  from  instruction  have  no  religious  ideas. 

The  universality  argument  therefore  falls  to  the  ground, 
since  it  is  proved  conclusively  that  the  ideas  of  a  deity 
and  of  a  future  life  are  not  innate  in  the  human  mind  ; 
but,  as  we  shall  see,  are  arrived  at,  as  every  other  item  of 
knowledge  is  reached,  through  the  experience  of  the 
senses.  Those  who  wish  to  know  how  absolutely  non- 
existent among  many  races  are  all  religious  ideas  should 
consult  Sir  John  Lubbock's  "  Prehistoric  Times,"  and  his 
"  Origin  of  Civilisation."  In  these  works  will  be  found 
ample  evidence  that  religious  ideas  cannot  have  that 
supernatural  origin  which  is  commonly  claimed  for  them. 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  123 


The  following  conversation,  which  took  place  between 
Sir  Samuel  Baker  and  a  chief  of  the  Latooki,  a  Nile 
tribe,  is  instructive  in  many  ways.  I  have  taken  it  from 
Mr. Herbert  Spencer's  "Ecclesiastical  Institutions,"  a  work 
to  which  I  am  much  indebted. 


"  '  Have  you  no  belief  in  a  future  existence  after  death  ? ' 

Commoro  (loq.). — 'Existence  after  death  !  How  can  that  be? 
Can  a  dead  man  get  out  of  his  grave  unless  we  dig  him  out  ? ' 

'  Do  you  think  man  is  like  a  beast,  that  dies  and  is  ended  ? ' 

Commoro. — '  Certainly  ;  an  ox  is  stronger  than  a  man  ;  but  he 
dies,  and  his  bones  last  longer  ;  they  are  bigger.  A  man's  bones 
break  quickly — he  is  weak.' 

*  Is  not  a  man  superior  in  sense  to  an  ox  ?  Has  he  not  a  mind  to 
direct  his  actions  ? ' 

Commoro. — '  Some  men  are  not  so  clever  as  an  ox.  Men  must 
sow  corn  to  obtain  food  ;  but  the  ox  and  wild  animals  can  procure 
it  without  sowing.' 

'  Do  you  not  know  that  there  is  a  spirit  within  you  more  than  flesh  ? 
Do  you  not  dream  and  wander  in  thought  to  distant  places  in  your 
sleep  ?  Nevertheless,  your  body  rests  in  one  spot.  How  do  you 
account  for  this  ?' 

Cojnmoro  (laughing) — '  Well,  how  do  you  account  for  it  ?  It  is 
a  thing  I  cannot  understand  ;  it  occurs  to  me  every  night.' 

'  Have  you  no  idea  of  the  existence  of  spirits  superior  to  either 
man  or  beast?  Have  you  no  fear  of  evil,  except  from  bodily 
causes  ? ' 

Commoro.— '  I  am  afraid  of  elephants  and  other  animals  when  in 
the  jungle  at  night,  but  of  nothing  else.' 

'  Then  you  believe  in  nothing — neither  in  a  good  nor  evil  spirit  ? 
And  you  believe  that  when  you  die  it  will  be  the  end  of  body  and 
spirit  ;  that  you  are  like  other  animals  ;  and  that  there  is  no  dis- 
tinction between  man  and  beast ;  both  disappear,  and  end  at 
death?' 

Commoro. — '  Of  course  they  do.'" 

Baker  then  repeats  St.  Paul's  argument  about  the 
decaying  seed,  to  which  Commoro  replies  : 

"  '  Exactly  so  ;  that  I  understand.  But  the  original  grain  does 
not  rise  again  ;  it  rots  like  the  dead  man,  and  is  ended  ;  the  fruit 
produced  is  not  the  same  grain  that  we  buried,  but  the  production 
of  that  grain  :  so  it  is  with  man — I  die,  and  decay,  and  am  ended  ; 
but  my  children  grow  up  like  the  fruit  of  the  grain.  Some  men 
have  no  children,  and  some  grain  perish  without  fruit ;  then  all  are 
ended.'5' 


124        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


It  will  be  seen  that  though  this  chief  had  no  belief  in 
a  future  life,  and  no  idea  whatever  of  any  distinction 
between  man  and  beast  after  death,  he  yet  had  very 
correct  knowledge  of  the  natural  laws  of  generation  and 
decay ;  and  in  this  respect  showed  himself,  as  Mr. 
Spencer  says,  "to  be  more  acute  than  his  questioner." 
There  is  matter  for  reflection  in  this  conversation. 
The  highly  civilised,  cultured,  Christian  gentleman,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  uncivilised,  uncultured  savage  on 
the  other,  stand  upon  the  same  level  as  regards  all  posi- 
tive knowledge  of  the  subject  of  the  Christian's  interro- 
gatories. The  question  is,  How  did  man  first  come  to 
believe  that  he  had  a  soul  which  survives  his  body  ? 

At  the  earliest  dawn  of  intelligence  the  mysteries  of 
death,  sleep,  and  other  unconscious  states  necessarily  force 
themselves  upon  the  mind.  The  uncivilised  man  lies 
down,  and  becomes  for  several  hours  oblivious  of  the 
actions  of  his  senses  and  all  around  him,  and,  when  not 
dreaming,  quite  unconscious  of  his  very  existence. 
Under  the  influence  of  some  fits  he  appears  quite  lifeless, 
and  those  around  him  are  unable  to  say  whether  or  not 
he  is  living  or  dead.  And  when  death  has  really  taken 
place,  the  body  is  rarely  disposed  of  until  decomposition 
renders  it  absolutely  necessary.  During  the  unconscious 
state  of  sleep  he  sometimes  dreams,  and  on  awakening 
he  remembers,  with  more  or  less  vividness,  having  per- 
formed certain  actions,  held  conversations  with  certain 
people,  and  travelled  about  to  different  places.  In  short, 
he  is  quite  convinced  that  during  the  hours  his  body  lay 
in  one  place  motionless,  helpless,  unconscious,  some 
other  part  of  him  was  awake  and  active,  and  going 
through  the  ordinary  routine  of  daily  life.  In  his  waking 
hours  these  dreams  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  his 
remembrance  of  actual  events  in  his  life ;  and  the  con- 
clusion seems  irresistible  to  him  that,  in  addition  to  his 
bodily  self,  he  must  possess  another  and  unsubstantial 
self. 

This  belief  would  be  strengthened  in  many  ways. 
Does  he  not  frequently  see  this  "  double "  of  himself 
following  him  about  in  the  shape  of  his  shadow,  and 
vanishing    and   returning    in   the   most   unaccountable 


Evolution  of  Religio?4S  Ideas  125 


manner?  Mental  visions  are  familiar  to  him,  as  they 
are  to  man  in  every  stage  of  civilisation.  Many  of  his 
nervous  states  would  impress  him  with  a  feeling,  amount- 
ing to  conviction,  that  he  was  surrounded  by  unseen 
living  agents.  And  how  could  he  account  for  such 
existences,  other  than  by  ascribing  them  to  the  doubles, 
ghosts,  spirits,  or  souls  (they  all  mean  the  same  to  him) 
of  those  whose  bodies  were  quiescent  for  the  time  being 
in  death  or  otherwise  ?  Manifestly  the  ghost  theory  is 
the  simplest  and  most  natural  that  could  possibly  occur 
to  the  untaught  mind.  Nay,  does  not  the  belief  in  ghosts 
hold  its  own  to-day  among  millions  in  the  civilised  parts 
of  the  world  ? 

Along  with  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  double 
which  survives  the  bodily  life  goes  the  belief  that  this 
spirit  possesses  supernatural  powers  for  good  or  for  evil. 
And  it  is  worthy  of  note,  as  significant  of  the  purely 
natural  genesis  of  the  spirit  idea,  that  the  influence 
ascribed  to  the  dead  is  in  proportion  to  the  power  they 
exercised  while  in  the  bodily  life,  and  the  propitiatory 
offerings  the  same  in  both  conditions. 

In  Australia,  when  a  chief  or  other  notable  personage 
dies,  the  medicine-man — who,  according  to  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer,  corresponds  to  our  clergyman — sits  beside  the 
grave  praying  to  and  praising  the  deceased,  and  listening 
for  his  replies.  The  medicine-man  is  the  mediator 
between  the  superhuman  spirit  of  the  departed  chief  and 
his  tribe ;  and  he  takes  care  that  the  spirit  shall  be  very 
peremptory  and  precise  in  his  injunctions  to  the  tribe  to 
bestow  abundance  of  worldly  goods  on  the  medicine- 
men. 

The  supernatural  power  ascribed  to  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  causes  them  to  be  worshipped  as  gods.  The 
Japanese  say  "  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  continue  to 
exist  in  the  unseen  world,  which  is  everywhere  about  us, 
and  that  they  all  become  gods  of  varying  character  and 
degrees  of  influence.  .  .  .  The  gods  who  do  harm  are  to 
be  appeased,  so  that  they  may  not  punish  those  who  have 
offended  them  ;  and  all  the  gods  are  to  be  worshipped, 
so  that  they  may  be  induced  to  increase  their  favours." 
From  this  we  conclude  that  the  Japanese  gods  have  been 


126         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

derived  from  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  In  India,  also, 
divine  honour  is  paid  to  the  spirits  of  departed  chiefs. 
Again,  among  the  early  Greeks,  down  to  the  time  of 
Plato,  the  belief  strongly  prevailed  that  it  was  necessary 
to  avert  the  wrath  of  the  departed  by  the  observance  of 
prayers  and  rites.  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  says  :  "  We  get 
from  this  kinship  of  beliefs  among  races  remote  in  time, 
space,  and  culture,  strong  warrant  for  the  inference  that 
ghost-propitiation  is  the  origin  of  all  religions.  .  .  .  That 
religions  in  general  are  derived  from  ancestor-worship 
finds  proof  among  all  races  and  in  every  country." 

The  doubles  of  the  dead  are  with  all  peoples  the  same 
as  the  living  in  their  appetites  and  passions ;  and  there 
is  a  close  parallel  between  the  imagined  occupations  of 
the  spirits  of  the  other  world  and  their  life  in  this.  Even 
among  advanced  peoples  the  social  arrangements  here 
are  believed  to  be  repeated  hereafter  in  heaven,  where 
the  gods  are  pictured  seated  on  their  thrones  in  their 
palaces,  administering  justice,  receiving  the  homage  of 
their  subjects,  and  otherwise  re-enacting  the  scenes  of 
this  life. 

That  the  early  English  claimed  for  their  great  men 
some  sort  of  approach  towards  equality  with  their  gods 
is  curiously  shown  by  a  passage  Kemble  quotes  from 
King  Alfred,  relating  to  compounding  for  crimes  by  a 
money  payment  in  all  cases,  "  except  in  cases  of  treason 
against  a  lord,  to  which  they  dared  not  assign  any  mercy; 
because  Almighty  God  adjudged  none  to  them  that 
despised  him  ;  nor  did  Christ  .  .  .  adjudge  any  to  him 
that  sold  him  unto  death ;  and  he  commanded  that  a 
lord  should  be  xoved  like  himself." 

The  burning  of  incense  is  a  very  old  custom  among 
some  savage  races,  and  is  still,  as  every  one  knows,  an 
important  part  of  the  ritual  of  Roman  Catholicism.  So 
also  is  the  making  of  grave-heaps.  "  Along  with  the 
development  of  grave-heaps  into  altars,  and  grave- 
sheds  into  religious  edifices,  and  food  for  ghosts  into 
sacrifices,  there  goes  the  development  of  praise  and 
prayer. 

"  The  mind  of  the  savage,  unable  to  distinguish 
between  semblance  and  reality,  invests  the  rude  images 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  1 27 

of  the  departed  with  the  properties  of  the  living  ;  and  to 
such  an  extent  is  this  carried  that  idols  are  actually  fed 
and  prayed  to."  Livingstone  says,  referring  to  the  idols 
made  by  the  people  west  of  Lake  Nyassa :  "  They 
present  pombe,  flour,  bhang,  tobacco,  and  light  a  fire  for 
them  to  smoke  by.  They  represent  the  departed  father 
or  mother,  and  it  is  supposed  that  they  are  pleased 
with  the  offerings  made  to  their  representatives.  .  .  . 
Names  of  dead  chiefs  are  sometimes  given  to  them." 
With  the  Bhils :  "  Their  usual  ceremony  consists  in 
merely  smearing  the  idol,  which  is  seldom  anything  but 
a  shapeless  stone,  with  vermilion  and  red  lead,  or  oil  ; 
offering,  with  protestations  and  petition,  an  animal  and 
some  liquor." 

In  this  manner  the  fetichism  which  invests  every  rude 
likeness  to  the  human  form  with  the  ghost  of  the  dead 
is  developed,  until  the  idol  is  really  supposed  to  be 
inhabited  by  the  spirit  of  the  dead  man  whom  it  is 
taken  to  represent.  Out  of  this  rude  beginning  has 
been  evolved  the  whole  elaborate  system  of  idol 
manufacture  and  worship,  which  is  still  seen  all  over 
Christendom. 

The  serpent  that  tempted  Eve  is  a  very  old  and  wide- 
spread religious  symbol.  There  is  something  about  the 
serpent  which  seems  to  lend  itself  readily  to  typifying 
the  cunning  and  the  wily.  The  quiet,  gliding  motions, 
the  cold  glitter  of  the  eye,  without  the  faintest  ray  of 
intelligence  or  expression,  the  beauty  and  symmetry  of 
form,  and  deadly  nature  of  the  bite  of  some,  altogether 
produce  in  the  mind  an  unusual  feeling  of  dread  and 
repugnance.  It  was  probably  the  recognition  of  these 
qualities  which  caused  the  serpent  to  be  selected  to 
represent  the  spirit  of  evil. 

Some  snakes  are  given  to  visiting  houses,  and  they 
have  been  known  to  frequent  the  same  house  for 
many  years,  where  the  inhabitants  regularly  placed 
food  for  them.  It  is  supposed  that  ghosts  often 
return  to  their  former  homes,  and  this  gives  rise 
to  the  belief  that  snakes  are  embodiments  of 
them.  A  multitude  of  Indo-European  peoples  re- 
garded snakes   as  domestic  divinities,  and  would  have 


128         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


been  in  the  greatest  despair  if  any  harm  came  to  one  of 
them. 

The  rattlesnake  was  regarded  as  an  evil  god.  Snake- 
worship  forms  a  cult,  which  is  very  widespread  even  at 
the  present  time.  But  though  there  are  many  forms  of 
belief  connected  with  it,  the  principle  is  the  same  in 
all,  viz.,  that  the  snake  is  believed  to  be  a  material 
embodiment  of  a  spirit,  it  may  be  of  an  ancestor,  or 
of  a  chief,  and  as  such  is  looked  upon  as  a  god.  In 
Egyptian  theology  the  serpent  is  represented  as  the 
spirit  of  evil,  whence  the  idea  was  borrowed  by  the 
Christians. 

Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  says  :  "  Nature-worship  is  an 
abnormal  form  of  ghost-worship."  Sun,  moon,  stars,  etc., 
being  names  applied  to  certain  chiefs  and  others,  came 
in  time  to  be  personalised  phenomena  ;  and  when  the 
sun-chief  has  disappeared  from  the  earth,  the  identifica- 
tion of  his  spirit  with  the  sensible  object  bearing  his 
name  is  a  simple  and  natural  transition.  The  sun,  being 
in  all  ages  the  great  emblem  of  power  and  life,  kings 
and  chiefs  are  likened  unto  him,  and  bear  the  name 
of  sun.  Egypt  affords  many  such  illustrations.  An 
inscription  from  Silsilis  runs  :  "  Hail  to  thee  !  King  of 
Egypt !  Sun  of  the  foreign  peoples  !  .  .  .  Life,  salvation, 
health  to  him  !  he  is  a  shining  sun." 

Influences  of  very  complex  character  assist  in  the 
creation  of  gods,  and  we  cannot  draw  a  hard-and-fast 
line  around  any  group  of  facts,  and  say  through  these 
alone  this  or  that  conception  of  deity  was  arrived  at. 
Apart  from  the  naming  of  great  personages  after  the  sun, 
and  the  tendency  to  which  this  would  give  rise  to  transfer 
the  worship  of  the  spirit  of  the  departed  to  the  sun  him- 
self, there  must  also  have  been  a  numerous  and  complex 
group  of  influences  always  at  work,  impressing  the  mind 
of  uneducated  men  with  the  belief  that  the  sun  was 
a  great  living  god.  The  sun's  apotheosis  has  been  due 
in  measure,  no  doubt,  to  his  own  attributes,  as  well  as  to 
the  confusion  of  metaphor  with  fact. 

"  In  their  normal  forms,  as  in  their  abnormal  forms,  all 
gods  arise  by  apotheosis."  ]  The  Greeks  and  the 
1  Herbert  Spencer,  "Ecclesiastical  Institutions," p.  687. 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  129 


Romans  both  made  gods  of  their  great  men,  and 
emperor-worship  became  a  developed  cult.  "  In  every 
one  of  the  Gaulish  cities  a  large  number  of  men,  who 
belonged  to  the  highest  as  well  as  to  the  middle  classes, 
were  priests  and  flamens  of  Augustus,  flamens  of  Drusus, 
priests  of  Vespasian  or  Marcus  Aurelius.  The  statues  of 
the  emperors  were  real  idols,  to  which  they  offered  incense, 
victims  and  prayers."  The  same  ideas  leading  to  such 
cults  were  familiar  to  other  European  peoples. 

In  the  popular  mind  the  existence  of  spirits  was 
an  unquestioned  fact  ;  and  as  they  were  believed  to 
possess  all  the  parts  of  living  mortals,  it  was  not  an 
unusual  thing  for  "  virgins  "  to  give  birth  to  spirit-begotten 
children.  In  Navigator's  Islands  "they  have  an  idea, 
which  is  very  convenient  to  the  reputation  of  the  females, 
that  some  of  these  hotcoa  pow  (mischievous  spirits) 
molest  them  in  their  sleep,  in  consequence  of  which  there 
are  many  supernatural  conceptions." 

The  Babylonians,  as  well  as  many  other  peoples,  held 
similar  beliefs  ;  and  even  in  Europe,  down  to  com- 
paratively late  times,  there  was  a  wide-spread  belief 
in  incubi  and  succubi.  The  Virgin  Mary  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  idea  was,  therefore,  by  no  means  original ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  paralleled  in  innumerable  instances 
among  different  peoples  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 
Among  the  Greeks,  as  is  well  known,  there  were  many 
god-descended  men,  ^Esculapius,  Pythagorus,  Plato,  and 
others.  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Assyrian  king,  was  said  to 
have  been  god-begotten.  Almig  Goa  among  the  Mongols, 
having  herself  had  a  spirit-father,  gave  birth  to  three 
children,  all  of  whom  were  spirit-begotten.  A  virgin  of 
the  sun  in  ancient  Peru  had  but  to  declare  that  her 
pregnancy  was  due  to  the  sun-spirit,  and  she  was 
believed,  unless  there  was  proof  to  the  contrary.  The 
great  god  Tangaron,  among  the  inhabitants  of  Mangaia, 
is  credited  with  being  the  father  of  the  two  sons  born  by 
Ma-Ani-Via.  Similar  cases  might  be  cited  almost  with- 
out number  of  ghosts  or  spirits  having  had  intercourse 
with  virgins,  and  producing,  as  the  fruit  of  such  inter- 
course, offspring  differing  in  no  respect  in  their  mode  of 
life  and  death  from  other  mortals. 


130         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

Compare  these  cases  with  that  of  Mary  and  Jesus. 
Christians  habitually  speak  of  the  story  of  their  God- 
descended  person  as  though  it  were  special  to  their 
religion,  and  the  only  one  known  to  history ;  when  the 
fact  is,  it  was  common  to  the  world  years  before  the 
birth  of  the  carpenter's  son  of  Nazareth.  There  is 
nothing  exceptional  about  any  one  of  them;  they  all 
bear  the  same  family  likeness,  and  are  all  due  to  similar 
causes.  They  were  the  products  of  unenlightened  ages ; 
and  to-day  they  are  impracticable,  solely  because  the 
mind  of  man  has  reached  a  stage  in  development  which 
renders  the  acceptance  of  any  so-called  supernatural 
events  an  impossibility.  It  is  true,  jugglers  still  seek  to 
impose  upon  the  ignorant  and  credulous  by  asserting 
that  what  they  call  miracles  still  occur.  They  are  not, 
however,  of  a  very  momentous  character,  being  confined 
chiefly  to  the  facial  antics  of  statues. 

Again,  in  regard  to  the  Trinity.  Perhaps  of  all  the 
elements  of  religious  faith  common  to  man,  there  is  none 
so  widespread  and  so  deeply  rooted  as  this.  From  the 
earliest  times  to  the  present,  Trinities  in  some  form  or 
other  have  formed  essential  parts  of  religious  systems. 
Sometimes  they  appear  in  the  form  of  personalised  gods, 
at  others  under  the  characters  of  principles,  and  again 
as  expressing  productive  and  other  active  powers  of 
Nature.  Each  great  centre  of  Egypt  had  its  trinity. 
In  Thebes  it  consisted  of  Amun,  the  superior  god  ; 
Maut,  the  mother ;  and  Chous,  the  son,  who,  like  the 
son  in  the  Christian  Trinity,  is  confounded  with  and  in- 
extricably mixed  up  with  the  father.  The  trinity  of 
Memphis  was  composed  of  Phtha,  Pasht,  and  Mouth. 
These  three  beings  were  held  to  personify  the  powers  of 
Nature,  and,  like  the  first-named  triad,  are  father, 
mother,  and  son.  Mouth,  with  his  consort  Ritho,  and 
their  son  Harphre,  formed  the  trinity  at  Hermonthis. 
But  the  most  widespread  and  popular  of  all  the  Egyptian 
trinities  was  Osiris,  the  father ;  Isis,  the  mother  ;  and 
Horus,  the  son.  This  trinity  was  revered  throughout 
Egypt. 

The  ancient  Persians  had  their  trinity,  which  they 
worshipped   under  the  form    of  three  principles.     The 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  131 


Hindoos  have  their  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Shiva ;  while 
the  religion  of  Buddhism  is  also  pervaded  by  trinitarian 
conceptions,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  of 
Christianity.  Among  the  Greeks  the  same  ideas  under 
various  forms  are  to  be  found.  Plato's  divinity  is  a 
tripartite  conception  which  admits  of  a  variety  of 
interpretations. 

Referring  to  the  Christian  Trinity,  the  Rev.  James 
Gardner,  in  his  "  Faiths  of  the  World,"  says  :  "  But  so 
many  traces  of  it  are  found  in  the  religions  of  all  heathen 
nations  that  many  have  been  led  to  consider  it  as  a 
doctrine  of  the  primeval  religion,  and  handed  down  by 
tradition."  The  Christian  Trinity  is  but  a  variation  of 
the  others,  and  differs  from  them  chiefly  in  being  more 
mystical,  and  requiring  in  its  believers,  perhaps,  a  greater 
degree  of  faith.  In  the  representations  of  Horus  we 
find  a  halo  around  his  head,  as  we  see  it  in  those  of 
Jesus  ;  and  Isis,  the  mother,  corresponds  in  all  respects 
with  the  Virgin  Mother,  Mary.  While  the  attributes  of  the 
father  have  a  kindred  relationship  in  all  religions,  they 
are  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  exaggerated  passions 
of  man — war,  hatred,  bloodthirstiness,  revenge,  etc.  The 
Christian's  God  is  still  a  god  of  war,  vengeance,  and 
jealousy,  as  well  as  of  love.  The  historical  and  natural 
evolution  of  the  Christian  Trinity  is  as  well  established 
as  most  other  facts  of  history. 

If  we  consider  this  subject  from  the  point  of  view  of 
human  progress,  we  shall  find  that  all  the  facts  connected 
with  trinities  and  other  gods  are  congruous  with  such 
progress.  All  god-makers  have  necessarily  been  men  of 
crude,  uncultured  mind — men  in  the  early  stages  of  in- 
tellectual development ;  and  they  could  not  rise  above 
their  own  level  in  their  conceptions  of  their  gods,  any 
more  than  in  their  conceptions  of  other  things.  And, 
therefore,  it  was  a  natural  consequence  that  their  self- 
evolved  gods  should  be  endowed  with  the  qualities  of 
their  prototypes.  Every  man-conceived  god,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  must  of  necessity  possess  human 
attributes  only — must  of  necessity,  i.e.y  be  an  anthropo- 
morphical being,  finite  and  conditioned.  And  so  long 
as  man  will  persist  in  defining  his  God,  so  long  must 


132         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


that  God  be  in  every  conceivable  attribute  nothing  more 
than  a  magnified  man. 

No  person  of  unbiassed  mind  can  consider  the  de- 
scription which  Christians  themselves  give  of  their  God 
without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  his  genesis  has 
been,  like  that  of  all  other  gods,  a  purely  natural  process. 
Nor  can  the  student  of  genealogical  religious  history 
ascribe  to  the  Christian  Trinity  an  origin  different  from 
those  of  other  trinities.  It  is  undoubtedly  derived  from 
older  triads,  as  every  other  element  in  the  religion 
current  among  us  is  also  derived  from  older  or  contem- 
poraneous religions.  These  are  plain  matters  of  history, 
which  the  ingenuous  mind  in  search  of  truth,  and  open 
to  its  reception  under  all  forms,  cannot  any  longer 
continue  to  doubt ;  any  more  than  it  can  doubt  other 
well-authenticated  facts  of  history  or  proved  truths  of 
science.  All  the  religions  of  what  is  called  the  heathen 
world  had  their  trinities  in  some  form  or  other,  as  well  as 
a  multiplicity  of  other  gods.  And  even  Islamism,  which 
professed  as  the  principal  if  not  the  sole  object  of  its 
existence  the  promulgation  of  a  faith  in  one  god  only, 
implies  in  some  respects  the  existence  of  more  gods 
than  one. 

No  doubt  Egypt  exercised  considerable  religious 
influence  over  both  Greece  and  Rome.  Indeed,  in 
the  time  of  the  Ptolemies,  the  worship  of  the  bull 
Apis,  or  Serapis,  as  the  Greeks  named  it,  became  the 
religious  bond  between  the  old  Egyptians  and  the 
Greek  colonists.  No  two  peoples,  whose  civilisations 
represent  a  near  approach  towards  each  other  in  general 
progress  and  culture,  can  mingle  much  together  without 
being  influenced  considerably  by  each  other's  religious 
beliefs.  And  that  this  has  been  so  throughout  history, 
all  independent  testimony  goes  to  prove;  while,  on  the 
contrary,  we  have  ample  evidence  that  when  two  civil- 
isations, differing  very  widely  in  character  and  develop- 
ment, come  together,  the  religious  views  of  the  one  will 
exercise  little  or  no  influence  over  the  religious  views  of 
the  other. 

In  proof  of  this,  we  need  but  point  to  our  connection 
with  East  India.     We  have  held  the  country  for  more 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  133 

than  a  century  ;  we  are  masters  of  the  lives  and  fortunes 
of  its  teeming  population  ;  we  have  spent  millions'  of 
money  in  erecting  places  of  worship,  and  sending  out 
missionaries  to  all  parts  ;  and  yet  we  have  made  little  or 
no  impression  upon  the  people  of  India  by  way  of 
converting  them  to  Christianity.  India  swarms  with 
missionaries,  and  all  they  can  show  for  their  labour  are 
a  few  converts  here  and  there  among  the  poor  outcasts 
of  the  population,  who,  for  the  consideration  of  a  few 
rupees,  would  profess  their  belief  in  any  religion  which 
the  missionaries  chose  to  put  before  them.  These  may 
appear  sweeping  assertions,  but  I  believe  they  will  be 
corroborated  by  all  independent  evidence  from  India. 

The  more  closely  we  inquire  into  the  elements  of  the 
Christian  religion,  the  nearer  we  get  to  their  natural 
origin,  and  to  their  kinship  with  religions  in  general. 
In  no  respects  can  it  be  shown  that  the  religion  pre- 
valent among  us  differs  from  all  others  in  its  origin ; 
and  in  its  elaboration  and  growth,  beyond  all  doubt,  it 
has  followed  the  natural  laws  of  social  and  intellectual 
evolution.  It  is  historically  true,  as  Mr.  H.  Spencer  has 
shown  beyond  question,  that  Christian  priests  are  the 
modern  representatives  of  the  weather-doctors  and 
medicine-men  of  savage  races  ;  and  in  many  ways  the 
duties  of  the  Christian  priest  are  similar  to  those  of  his 
barbarous  prototype. 

A  satisfactory  distinction  between  priests  and  medicine- 
men is  difficult  to  find.  Both  are  concerned  with  super- 
natural agents,  which  in  their  original  forms  are  ghosts.1 
The  medicine-men  prayed  to  their  gods  to  send  them 
fine  weather;  our  clergymen  do  the  same.  The  medicine- 
men prayed  for  victory  in  battle  ;  our  clergymen  offer  up 
prayers  for  like  results,  regardless  of  the  justice  of  their 
cause.  Witness  the  following  prayer,  directed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  be  read  on  the  occasion  of 
the  late  war  in  Egypt : 

"  O  Almighty  God,  whose  power  no  creature  is  able 

to  resist,  keep,  we  beseech  Thee,  our  soldiers  and  sailors 

who  have  now  gone  forth  to  war,  that  they,  being  armed 

with  Thy  defence,  may  be  preserved  evermore  from  all 

1   H.  Spencer,  "Ecclesiastical  Institutions,"  p.  705, 


134         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

perils,  to  glorify  Thee,  who  art  the  only  giver  of  all 
victory,  through  the  merits  of  Thy  only  Son,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.     Amen" 

In  this  connection  do  we  not  still  see  rude  man's 
primitive  chief  god,  as  well  as  the  Hebrew's  "god  of 
battles,"  "the  man  of  war,"  "the  strong  one,"  whose 
assistance  is  to  be  obtained  by  supplication  and  prayer, 
as  of  yore  ?  Do  we  not  see  in  the  Christian's  God  of 
to-day,  as  portrayed  in  the  prayer  of  the  head  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  England,  a  family  likeness  to  his 
prototypes,  to  whom  all  savage  peoples  have  prayed 
for  similar  assistance  under  similar  circumstances? 
Wherein  does  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  differ  from 
the  medicine-men  of  the  savages  ?  or  his  God  from 
those  of  the  medicine-men  ? 

We  have  seen  that  in  uncultivated  man  the  supposed 
reality  of  dreams  gave  rise  to  a. belief  in  the  reality  of 
ghosts,  and  that  from  ghosts  arose  the  belief  in  super- 
natural beings  of  every  description.  This  is  the  subjective 
side  of  the  origin  and  development  of  all  gods.  How 
far  it  has  been  assisted  by  the  deification  of  natural 
objects,  and  the  interaction  of  the  two  groups  of  factors, 
we  need  not  here  inquire.  That  both  have  played  a 
prominent  part  seems  conclusive,  on  a  priori  grounds. 
Seeing  the  heavenly  bodies  move,  and  believing  that 
motion  of  every  description  was  due  to  living  agents,  it 
was  as  natural  to  ascribe  life  to  them  as  it  was  to  believe 
in  a  double  or  ghost  from  the  supposed  reality  of 
dreams. 

In  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews  we  find  the  same  ghost- 
theories  as  elsewhere.  The  dead  were  believed  by  them 
to  hear  and  answer  questions,  and  food  and  drink  were 
supplied  to  them.  The  spirit  was  supposed  to  haunt 
burial-places  ;  and  the  demons,  by  entering  into  men, 
caused  all  the  maladies  and  sins  of  life.  Like  the 
present  savages,  the  Hebrews  were  addicted  to  charms, 
amulets,  exorcisms,  etc.,  and  had  their  functionaries 
who  corresponded  to  medicine-men.  "  Familiar  spirits," 
"wizards,"  seers,  and  prophets  were  consulted  on  various 
subjects.  Samuel  was  a  weather-doctor,  and  was  believed 
to  have  power  over  rain  and  thunder, 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  135 


Many  Hebrew  traditions  are  similar  to  those  of  other 
peoples.  The  legend  of  the  Deluge  is  paralleled  by  those 
of  the  Hindoos  and  the  Accadians,  from  the  latter  of 
whom  it  was  probably  taken.  We  read  that  Manu  was 
directed  by  Vishnu  to  build  an  ark  to  escape  the  flood, 
and  that  it  came  and  swept  away  all  living  creatures 
except  Manu.  So  with  regard  to  the  birth  of  Moses  ; 
its  counterpart  is  found  in  an  Assyrian  story  of  the  birth 
and  adventures  of  King  Sargina.  (<  My  mother,"  he 
said,  "brought  me  forth  in  a  secret  place;  she  placed  me 
in  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  she  threw  me  into  the  river,"  etc. 
Again,  with  regard  to  the  Sabbath  and  its  observances  : 
"  The  Assyrian  months  were  lunar  .  .  .  the  seventh, 
fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days  being 
the  Sabbaths.  On  these  Sabbath  days  extra  work,  and 
even  missions  of  mercy,  were  forbidden.  .  .  .  The 
enactments  were  similar  in  character  to  those  of  the 
Jewish  code." 

Between  Egyptian  and  Hebrew  theology  there  is  also 
a  close  resemblance.  With  both,  as  with  other  peoples, 
a  god  simply  meant  a  strong  person,  to  whom  it  became 
customary  to  offer  worship.  "Abraham  was  a  demi-god, 
to  whom  prayer  was  addressed."  "  They  sacrificed  unto 
devils,  not  to  God  ;  to  gods  whom  they  knew  not,  to 
new  gods  that  came  newly  up,  whom  your  fathers  feared 
not"  (Deut.  xxxii.  17).  That  the  Hebrews  believed  in 
more  gods  than  one  is  proved  by  Solomon's  sacrifices  to 
them,  and  by  the  denunciations  of  prophets. 

As  the  Scriptures  show  that  Jahveh  was  a  God  among 
many,  who  eventually  became  supreme,  so  also  they  show 
us  what  was  his  nature.  He  came  down  and  conversed 
freely  with  men,  and  inspected  their  work — the  city  and 
the  towers  "which  the  children  of  men  had  builded." 
We  are  told  that  he  walked  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and 
talked  in  human  fashion.  We  are  further  told  that 
Jacob  actually  wrestled  with  the  Christian's  God  ;  and 
that  Moses  spake  to  him  face  to  face,  as  one  friend 
speaks  to  another.  Would  it  be  in  keeping  with  this 
character  to  picture  the  Christian's  God  coming  down 
among  us  now,  and  wrestling  with  men  ?  I  can  as 
readily  picture   him   wrestling  with    a    man    to-day  as 


136         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

with  Jacob  a  comparatively  few  years  ago.  Why  not  ? 
Is  his  nature  altered  since  he  came  down  and  wrestled 
with  Jacob  ?  Or  are  the  circumstances  of  man's  life  and 
the  world  so  greatly  changed  ? 

"The  God  of  Israel"  was  clearly  but  a  local  god,  and 
one  among  many  others.  He  commands  the  Israelites 
to  worship  none  but  himself,  implying  thereby  that 
there  were  other  gods.  This  is  further  shown  in  the 
language  of  the  Hebrews,  where  they  speak  of  "one" 
God,  to  distinguish  him  from  others.  The  Hebrews 
recognised  in  their  God  limitations  of  power  ;  he  is  said 
to  have  failed  in  his  attempt  personally  to  slay  Moses  ! 
The  Israelites,  fighting  under  his  instructions  and  with 
his  assistance,  were  beaten  by  the  Philistines,  when  "the 
ark  of  God  was  taken"  (1  Sam.  iv.  3-10).  We  are  also 
told  that  though  "the  Lord  was  with  Judah  we  could 
not  drive  out  the  inhabitants,  because  they  had  chariots 
of  iron  ! "  This  God  repents  of  what  he  has  done,  boasts 
of  his  glory,  and  describes  himself  as  jealous  and  revenge- 
ful, and  declares  that  he  will  mercilessly  destroy  his 
enemies.  He  confesses  that  he  is  a  false,  deceitful,  and 
lying  god  ;  as  when,  for  example,  he  directs  a  prophet 
to  prophesy  falsely,  intending  then  to  destroy  him 
(Ezekiel  xi.  9) ;  when  he  hardens  men's  hearts  that  he 
may  punish  them  for  their  deeds.  He  prompts  David 
to  number  Israel,  suggesting  an  imaginary  sin,  that  he 
may  punish  those  who  have  not  committed  it.  Offer- 
ings of  various  kinds  are  made  to  this  god,  such  as  bread, 
meat,  fat,  oil,  drink,  fruits,  etc.  ;  and  he  is  said  to  enjoy 
the  "  sweet  savour "  of  burnt  offerings,  "  like  the  idol- 
inhabiting  gods  of  the  negroes." 

Of  all  the  offerings  to  the  Christian's  God,  blood  was 
the  most  acceptable.  The  blood  of  sacrificed  men  and 
animals  was  offered  alike  by  the  ancient  Mexicans,  Central 
Americans,  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  Hebrews  to  their 
gods.  The  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Peruvians  were  com- 
manded by  their  various  religions  to  offer  to  their  gods 
in  sacrifice  unblemished  animals  only.  In  Leviticus 
certain  parts  of  the  animals  are  reserved  for  God,  while 
other  parts  are  given  to  the  priests. 

The   story  of  Moses  bringing  down  the  tablets  from 


Evolution  of  Religious  Ideas  137 


Mount  Sinai,  alleged  to  have  been  given  to  him  by  God, 
is  paralleled  by  the  legend  that,  from  Mount  Ida,  in 
Crete,  Rhadamanthus  first  brought  down  Zeus'  decrees. 
The  councils  held  by  the  Christian  God  for  various 
purposes  are  similar  to  those  held  by  the  gods  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  Egyptians. 

As  the  Hebrews  allege  the  fulfilment  of  certain  pro- 
phecies, so  do  the  Greeks,  who  similarly  took  them  as 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  religion.  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer  says  :  "  The  working  of  miracles,  alleged  of  the 
Hebrew  god  as  though  it  were  special,  is  one  of  the 
ordinary  things  alleged  of  the  gods  of  all  peoples 
throughout  the  world."  In  all  religions  of  early  times 
gods  are  familiar  personages;  they  move  among  the 
people,  converse  with  them  in  a  friendly  way,  and  in 
other  respects  behave  exactly  as  the  Hebrew  god  is  said 
to  have  done.  It  does  not  matter  to  which  part  of  the 
Christian  religion  we  turn,  we  find  its  prototype  in  some 
other  and  older  religion. 

Our  sacred  wars  to  obtain  possession  of  the  sepulchre 
are  paralleled  by  the  sacred  war  of  the  Greeks  to  obtain 
access  to  Delphi ;  and  as,  among  Christians,  part  of  the 
worship  consists  in  reciting  the  doings  of  the  Hebrew  god, 
prophets,  and  kings,  so  the  religion  of  the  Greeks  con- 
sisted, in  great  measure,  in  reciting  the  deeds  of  the 
Homeric  gods  and  heroes. 

Wealthy  people  among  the  Greeks  subscribed  large 
sums  for  the  building  and  decoration  of  their  places  of 
worship,  as  offerings  to  God  for  his  favour  and  forgive- 
ness, as  rich  Christians  give  large  amounts  for  the 
erection  of  churches  and  cathedrals  for  a  similar  purpose. 
We  read  in  Grote  :  "The  lives  of  the  saints  bring  us  also 
back  to  the  simple  and  ever-operative  theology  of  the 
Homeric  age."  In  common  with  Christianity,  many 
religions  in  the  new  and  old  worlds  show  us  baptism, 
confession,  canonisation,  celibacy,  the  saying  of  grace, 
and  other  observances. 

"  What  are  we  to  conclude,"  Mr.  H.  Spencer  asks,  "  from  all  this 
evidence  ?  What  must  we  think  of  this  unity  of  character  exhibited 
by  religions  at  large  ?  And  then,  more  especially,  what  shall  we 
say  of  the  family  likeness  existing  between  the  creed  of  Christen- 
dom and  other  creeds  ?     .     .     .     The  worships  of  the  supposed 


138         Evolution ,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


supernatural  beings,  up  even  to  the  highest,  are  the  same  in  Nature, 
and  differ  only  in  their  degrees  of  elaboration.  What  do  these 
correspondences  imply?  Do  they  not  imply  that,  in  common  with 
other  phenomena,  displayed  by  human  beings  as  socially  aggregated, 
religions  have  a  natural  genesis  ? 

"Are  we  to  make  an  exception  of  the  religion  current  among  our- 
selves ?  If  we  say  that  its  likenesses  to  the  rest  hide  a  transcen- 
dent unlikeness,  several  implications  must  be  recognised.  One  is 
that  the  cause,  to  which  we  can  put  no  limits  in  space  or  time,  and 
of  which  our  entire  solar  system  is  a  relatively  infinitesimal  product, 
took  the  disguise  of  a  man  for  the  purpose  of  covenanting  with  a 
shepherd-chief  in  Syria.  Another  is  that  this  energy,  unceasingly 
manifested  everywhere,  throughout  past,  present,  and  future,  as- 
cribed to  himself  under  this  human  form  not  only  the  limited 
knowledge  and  limited  powers  which  various  passages  show  Jahyeh 
to  have  had,  but  also  moral  attributes  which  we  should  now  think 
discreditable  to  a  human  being.  And  a  third  is  that  we  must 
suppose  an  intention  even  more  repugnant  to  our  moral  sense. 
For  if  these  numerous  parallelisms  between  the  Christian  religion 
and  other  religions  do  not  prove  likeness  of  origin  and  develop- 
ment, then  the  implication  is  that  a  complete  simulation  of  the 
natural  by  the  supernatural  has  been  deliberately  devised  to  deceive 
those  who  examine  critically  what  they  are  taught.  Appearances 
have  been  arranged  for  the  purpose  of  misleading  sincere  inquirers, 
that  they  may  be  eternally  damned  for  seeking  the  truth. 

"  On  those  who  accept  this  last  alternative  no  reasonings  will 
have  any  effect.  Here  we  finally  part  company  with  them  by 
accepting  the  first  ;  and  accepting  it,  shall  find  that  ecclesiastical 
institutions  are  at  once  rendered  intelligible  in  their  use  and 
progress." 

Those  who  wish  to  understand  fully  the  origin  and 
progress  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  its  kinship  with 
other  religions,  should  consult  Mr.  Herbert  Spencers 
"  Ecclesiastical  Institutions."  In  this  work  every  detail 
is  traced  to  its  origin,  and  every  so-called  supernatural 
element  is  shown  to  be  connected  with,  and  to  have 
sprung  from,  similar  elements  in  other  religions.  The 
pretensions  of  Christianity  to  a  supernatural  origin  are 
proved  to  be  without  the  slightest  foundation  ;  and  no 
one  with  an  unfettered  mind  can  read  his  analysis  with- 
out coming  to  the  conclusion  that  this  religion,  like  all 
others,  is  a  purely  human  product,  both  in  its  origin  and 
growth.  Many  thinkers  before  Mr.  Spencer  have,  as  is 
well  known,  come  to  the  same  conclusion  ;  but  few  have 
so  exhaustively  proved  in  detail  the  origin  and  evolution 
of  every  item  of  Christianity 


CHAPTER  X 

JESUS 

When  David  Strauss  first  published  his  great  work, 
"  The  Life  of  Jesus,"  Christendom  was  still  under  the 
influence  of  the  Church  to  such  an  extent  that  few, 
among  even  the  great  thinkers,  dared  to  breathe  a 
suspicion  against  the  divinity  of  the  so-called  founder  of 
Christianity,  For  more  than  a  thousand  years  the 
religious  power,  in  alliance  with  the  civil  authority,  had 
been  supreme  ;  and  the  way  that  power  was  exercised 
against  all  who  dared  to  question,  or  were  suspected  of 
doubting,  the  truth  of  any  of  the  dogmas  of  the  Church, 
might  well  cause  the  boldest  to  shrink  with  fear  from 
the  consequences  of  giving  expression  to  the  lightest 
words  of  dissent.  It  is  true  that  when  Strauss  wrote,  the 
power  of  the  Church  to  enforce  obedience  to  her  dictates 
had  for  some  time  ceased  ;  but  the  social  influence  still 
brought  to  bear  upon  unbelievers  in  his  day  can  scarcely 
be  overstated. 

He  boldly  faced,  in  the  interests  of  truth,  the  odium 
and  social  persecution  to  which  he  was  subjected  on 
all  sides ;  and  the  services  he  rendered  to  freedom 
of  thought  and  progress  was  at  once  recognised 
throughout  Europe  and  America,  by  the  expressions  of 
approval  which  were  bestowed  upon  his  work  by  those 
to  whom  it  had  given  courage  to  speak  out  their  inward 
convictions.  Men  began  to  breathe  more  freely,  and 
henceforth  the  divine  character  of  Jesus,  and  even  the 
question  of  such  a  person  ever  having  existed,  became 
subjects  of  controversy. 

When  Renan,  some  few  years  later,  brought  out  his 
"  Life  of  Jesus,"  the  views  of  Strauss  had  made  great 
headway,  and   it  was  received  with  universal  approval 

!39 


140         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

and  enthusiasm.  These  works  were  the  outward  expres- 
sion of  the  inward  thought  and  belief  of  thousands  of 
the  best  minds ;  and  Renan,  while  being  honoured 
abroad,  received  the  highest  literary  recognition  in  his 
own  country. 

The  Christian  religion  had  long  been  accustomed  to 
see  its  dogmas  one  by  one  recede  before  the  advance  of 
rational  thought  and  science ;  but  to  dethrone  its 
founder  from  his  godhead  was  to  strike  at  the  very 
foundation  of  the  creed.  And  we  can  well  under- 
stand the  natural  indignation  with  which  the  Church 
and  its  followers  received  the  above-mentioned  works, 
especially  the  latter,  which,  from  its  more  popular 
style  and  great  celebrity  of  its  author,  was  read  far  and 
wide.  Take  away  the  divinity  from  the  carpenter's  son, 
reduce  him  to  his  natural  human  conditions,  and  the 
basis  of  the  Christian  religion  is  gone  ;  and  this  is  what 
Strauss  and  Renan  have  done. 

No  amount  of  scientific  or  logical  reasoning,  no  induc- 
tion of  facts  showing  the  natural  origin  and  evolution  of 
Christianity  from  other  religions,  would  strike  the  public 
mind  so  forcibly  as  the  calm  and  deliberate  assertion  of 
two  very  eminent  writers  that  Jesus  was  merely  a  man, 
the  child  of  his  father  and  mother,  as  every  other  human 
being  is  ;  and  that  from  his  birth  to  his  death  the  events 
of  his  life  were  those  of  a  mortal  man  merely,  possessed 
undoubtedly  of  much  insight,  great  courage  and  ability, 
a  warm  heart,  and  a  great  soul — qualities  which 
thousands  of  men  and  women,  too,  have  possessed 
before  and  since  his  time.  To  the  simplest  mind  the 
fact  must  be  obvious  that  if  this  poor  man,  who  was 
ignominiously  put  to  death  as  a  malefactor,  were  not 
God,  then  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  divine  character 
claimed  for  the  Christian  religion. 

The  study  of  astronomy  and  other  subjects,  having 
impressed  the  mind  with  the  majesty  and  immensity  of 
the  Universe,  the  idea  of  the  Infinite  Power  being 
represented  by,  and  incarnated  in  a  mortal  man,  is 
fading  from,  and  gradually  losing  its  hold  over,  men's 
minds.  The  background  of  our  perspective  of  Nature 
is  now  too  vast  for  continued  belief  in  such  a  possibility, 


Jesus  14 1 

and  readjustment  to  the  expanding  outlook  follows  as  a 
necessary  consequence. 

From  all  we  know  about  Jesus,  he  was  what  we  should 
call  to-day  a  Socialist  reformer,  and  taught  the  equality 
and  brotherhood  of  man,  much  in  the  same  fashion  as 
the  Socialists  are  now  teaching  these  disquieting 
doctrines.  The  words  ascribed  to  him  are  similar  in 
import  to  those  used  by  great-hearted,  far-seeing 
reformers  in  all  ages.  He  preached  against  not  only 
the  narrow  religious  prejudices  of  his  time,  but  also 
against  the  injustice  which  the  poor  were  made  to  suffer 
at  the  hands  of  the  rich  and  powerful. 

In  those  distant  times  he  stands  out  a  truly  sublime 
human  figure,  denouncing  and  defying  the  whole  power 
of  the  Sanhedrim,  as  he  is  hunted  from  pillar  to  post, 
preaching  in  the  market-place,  by  the  wayside,  and 
wherever  he  could  get  together  his  fellow-men,  that 
eternally  perennial  truth  which  grows  as  man  grows, 
and  under  all  vicissitudes  has  never  failed  to  keep  its 
hold  over  the  human  heart,  viz.,  the  brotherhood  and 
equality  of  men.  Little  could  he  foresee  that  around 
his  name  was  to  grow  up  a  gigantic  power,  which  for 
centuries  was  to  paralyse  the  mind,  stop  all  progress, 
quench  the  light  of  learning  which  had  arisen  in  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  plunge  the  world  into  almost  barbaric 
ignorance  and  darkness.  From  the  warmth  and  passion 
of  his  heart  he  denounced  injustice  and  oppression  ; 
and  in  the  grandeur  of  his  soul  he  sought  to  raise  men's 
minds  to  the  perception  of  the  true  dignity  of  human 
nature.  In  every  creature  of  human  mould  he  saw  the 
image  of  his  maker ;  and  he  recognised  no  distinction 
between  man  and  man,  except  those  arbitrary  and 
unjust  distinctions  which  avarice  and  power  had  created, 
and  custom  had  crystallised  into  a  social  system. 

The  poor  and  the  lowly  were  under  the  iron  heel  of 
oppression  ;  and  having  himself  been  born  in  the  ranks 
of  the  people,  he  became  their  champion.  But  inde- 
pendently of  the  accident  of  birth,  Nature  had  endowed 
him  with  the  true  reformer's  fearless  impatience  of  the 
arrogant  assumptions  of  those  who,  in  their  brief  day  of 
advantage,  lord  it  over  their  unfortunate  brethren.     He 


142         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


saw  clearly  the  true  circumstances  under  which  men 
were  enabled  to  hold  and  wield  power;  and  he  never 
lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  most  worthless  of  men,  the 
poorest  in  character  and  genius,  could,  under  the  opera- 
tion of  those  circumstances,  attain  to  the  highest  positions 
in  the  State,  in  virtue  of  which  they  subjugated  the  mind 
and  obtained  the  slavish  submission  of  the  people. 

He  spent  his  brief  life  in  trying  to  open  men's  eyes  to 
these  truths  ;  and,  like  many  ardent,  generous,  enthusi- 
astic reformers  since  his  time,  he  thought  that  to 
proclaim  the  truth  was  to  ensure  its  immediate  accept- 
ance. In  the  earnestness  of  his  nature  and  singleness 
of  purpose,  he  did  not  recognise  the  complexity  of 
human  nature  in  all  its  fulness.  He  could  not,  there- 
fore, make  sufficient  allowance  for  the  melancholy  truth, 
that  when  an  error  is  strongly  rooted  in  the  feelings, 
reason  is  powerless  to  extirpate  it  until  those  feelings 
relax  their  hold.  The  vast  amount  of  human  emotion 
that  has  gathered  around  the  figure  of  Jesus  has  enclosed 
him  in  such  a  halo  of  divine  sanctity,  that  even  those 
who  regard  him  in  his  true  light  feel,  to  some  extent, 
the  influence  of  the  almost  irresistible  spell. 

If  Jesus  lived  in  the  flesh,  and  is  not  merely  the 
representative  of  a  principle,  an  aspiration,  he  was 
probably  some  such  man  as  briefly  depicted  above. 
The  miracles  attributed  to  him  are,  of  course,  myths,  as 
are  all  those  attributed  to  the  founders  of  other  religions, 
and  innumerable  other  persons.  Volney's  saying,  that 
it  would  be  easier  for  the  whole  of  the  human  race  to  be 
in  error  than  for  the  smallest  atom  to  change  its  nature, 
is  an  answer  to  every  so-called  supernatural  event. 
Hume  effectually  disposed  of  miracles,  and  few  now 
regard  them  in  a  serious  light. 

It  matters  not  to  the  world  whether  a  man  named 
Jesus,  to  whom  is  attributed  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  religion,  ever  lived  or  not.  Jesus  the  man, 
or  Jesus  the  myth,  is  all  one  to-day.  The  ideas  that  are 
attributed  to  him  were  reinfused  into  men's  minds  and 
hearts  at  that  time  ;  and  this  is  the  important  point  to 
us.  For  the  promulgation  of  such  ideas  no  man  in  those 
days  would  have  escaped  crucifixion.     If  he  impeached 


jesus  i43 

the  authorities,  they  undoubtedly  crucified  him,  a  mode 
of  execution  which  was  in  use  then  as  hanging  is  now. 
In  this  there  is  nothing  unusual.  Thousands  were 
crucified  for  less  offences  than  his  against  the  govern- 
ing powers  of  the  time,  and  thousands  have  been 
crucified  since.  Alexander  crucified  two  thousand 
prisoners  in  revenge,  and  a  Roman  emperor  crucified 
four  thousand  victims  in  one  day. 

At  the  time  when  Jesus  is  supposed  to  have  been 
born,  the  Jews  were  in  subjection  to  the  Roman  power  ; 
and  the  accumulated  forces  of  social  discontent,  en- 
gendered by  the  contemptuous  treatment  and  tyranny  of 
the  conquerors  and  other  causes,  filled  men's  hearts 
with  a  passionate  longing  for  social  revolt  of  some  kind 
or  other.  They  were  days  of  religious  fervour  and 
excitement ;  and  the  nervous  condition  of  the  public 
mind  was  such  that  it  was  prepared  to  accept,  and  was 
indeed  on  the  look-out  for,  portents  and  signs  of  a 
supernatural  character,  in  fulfilment  of  certain  alleged 
prophecies.  The  mind  was  filled  with  expectations  of 
the  advent  of  a  Messiah  of  some  kind  or  other,  whether 
in  the  shape  of  a  king,  a  leader,  or  possibly  the  promulga- 
tion of  those  ideas  of  liberty,  which  should  fire  men's 
hearts  for  the  accomplishment  of  great  deeds.  The 
people  were  tired  of  the  Roman  yoke,  and  the  human 
spirit  probably  aspired  to  take  another  step  in  that 
upward  progress  towards  the  ideal  goal. 

Humanity  had,  in  fact,  arrived  at  one  of  those  crises 
through  which  every  now  and  again  it  bursts  the  bonds 
of  the  old  order,  and  enters  upon  the  succeeding  new. 
And  if  the  germs  of  this  social  revolution  had  had 
natural  growth  and  development,  probably  the  whole 
course  of  subsequent  history  would  have  been  very 
different.  If,  instead  of  becoming  a  mind-enslaving 
creed,  it  had  allied  itself  with  the  learning  of  the  Greeks 
and  others,  civilisation  and  progress,  instead  of  having 
been  arrested  and  put  back  for  1,200  years,  would  have 
gone  on,  we  may  reasonably  assume,  with  greater  rapidity 
than  ever ;  and  the  world  would  have  been  spared  that 
backward  course  which  we  lament  as  the  Dark  Ages. 

Unquestionably   some   of  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  or 


144         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

those  which  go  under  his  name,  were  in  advance  of  the 
general  state  of  the  public  mind  of  his  day ;  but  there 
was  nothing  in  them  which  had  not  been  known  for 
centuries  to  the  thoughtful  few.  The  religions  of  Greece 
and  Rome  were  never  seriously  believed  by  the  intel- 
lectual Greeks  and  Romans  ;  nor,  indeed,  is  any  religion 
the  faith  of  the  enlightened  few  among  the  people  pro- 
fessing it.  The  unity  of  God,  as  taught  by  Jesus,  was 
rather  behind  than  in  advance  of  the  conception  held  by 
the  philosophers,  which  approached  nearer  to  the  present 
scientific  conception  of  the  unity  of  nature. 

The  anthropomorphic  attributes  of  the  God  of  Jesus 
were,  long  before  his  time,  discovered  to  be  inapplicable 
to  the  Infinite  cause,  the  Supreme  Power  ;  but  Jesus 
does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  knowledge  of  the 
higher  philosophy,  judged  by  which  his  assertions 
respecting  the  Infinite  furnish  their  own  disproof.  The 
Greek  aphorism  that  "  the  highest  of  all  knowledge  is  to 
know  that  you  can  know  nothing,"  would  have  been  to 
him  quite  unintelligible.  So  far,  therefore,  as  greatness 
of  mind  is  concerned,  Jesus  was,  undoubtedly,  inferior 
to  many  other  men  of  his  time.  A  greater  power  of 
intellect  than  he  possessed  had  been  attained  by  man 
hundreds  of  years  before  he  was  born.  In  point  of 
intellectual  power,  Gotama,  the  founder  of  Buddhism, 
who  lived  nearly  a  thousand  years  before  his  time,  was 
greatly  his  superior. 

This,  however,  is  no  disparagement  of  the  man  Jesus. 
His  work  in  life  was  not  to  teach  intellectual  truths,  but 
to  rouse  men  to  a  sense  of  their  degraded  condition, 
and  to  impress  upon  all  the  knowledge  and  conviction 
that  the  inequalities  of  social  conditions,  with  all  the 
misery,  poverty,  and  vice  which  they  entailed,  were  due 
to  human  institutions,  which  were  founded  on  injustice, 
avarice,  and  selfishness.  Sell  all  you  have  and  give  to 
the  poor,  was  his  injunction  to  the  rich ;  thereby  plainly 
implying  that  riches  and  poverty  were  both  abnormal 
states,  relatively  to  the  state  that  he  advocated  as  the 
right  and  just  one,  viz.,  that  which  existed  in  "  the 
kingdom  of  God."  If  Jesus  lived  to-day,  he  would,  we 
may  safely  affirm,  either  be  a  Socialist  agitator  among 


Jesus  1 45 

the  poor  in  the  East  End  of  London,  or  a  fearless  and 
scathing  denouncer  of  the  corruptions,  gluttony,  and 
vice  of  the  dwellers  in  the  West  End  ;  and  probably 
both  would  receive  a  share  of  his  attention. 

The  Sanhedrim,  the  governing  body  of  the  Jews, 
hated  him  with  a  holy  zeal,  and  determined  on  his 
destruction  as  a  "  dangerous  disturber  of  the  public 
peace."  The  Roman  governor,  Pilate,  looked  upon  him 
as  a  harmless  enthusiast,  and  would  have  spared  his 
life  ;  but  the  clamour  of  the  Jewish  people  for  the  blood 
of  the  man  who  had  dared,  among  other  things,  to  call 
himself  the  son  of  God,  was  so  great  that  Pilate  had  to 
yield  to  their  demands.  What,  indeed,  are  we  all  but 
the  children  of  the  Infinite  power,  call  it  "  God,"  or  by 
any  other  name  we  please  ? 

The  influence  that  he  exercised  over  the  Jewish  people 
was  not  very  great ;  and  when  he  was  seized  and  tried, 
his  followers  all  deserted  him.  "  His  few  adherents, 
mostly  unarmed  peasants,  had  fled  at  the  instant  of  his 
capture  ;  not  the  slightest  tumultuary  movement  had 
taken  place  during  his  examination  before  the  High 
Priest,  and  the  popular  feeling  at  present  seemed  rather 
incensed  against  him  than  inclined  to  take  his  part."  1 

The  astounding  and  audacious  claims  put  forth  by 
the  far-reaching  and  overshadowing  power  which 
subsequently  grew  out  of  that  humble  beginning  has 
invested  the  subject  with  a  paralysing  influence  ;  and 
men  shrink  from  giving  voice  to  their  innermost  thoughts, 
under  the  dread  of  social  disapproval. 

Whilst  denying  the  divinity  claimed  for  him  by  his 
followers,  they  give  a  half-willing  assent  to  his  being 
invested  with  the  character  of  Christ,  and  so  contra- 
distinguish him  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  And  surely 
every  man  or  woman  who  takes  a  prominent  part  in 
setting  before  the  world  higher  and  better  ideals,  leading 
to  nobler  conduct  and  purer  aspirations,  partakes  in 
some  measure  of  the  character  of  the  human  Christ. 
Jesus  was  one  of  these  ;  and  if  the  organisation  that  was 
founded  upon  his  name  became  the  embodiment  of  much 
that  is  bad  in  human  conduct,  he  was  not,  in  any  degree, 
1  Dean  Milman,  "  History  of  Christianity,"  vol.  i.,  p.  320. 

K 


146        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

to  blame  for  it.  We  know  that  he  taught  the  equality 
of  men,  which  in  itself,  in  those  days,  was  no  slight 
service  to  render  to  the  world  ;  and  which,  to-day  even, 
constitutes  the  noblest  and  most  valuable  teaching  that 
men  can  give  to  their  age.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  character  of  the  man,  whether  he  laid  claim  to 
divinity  or  spoke  only  in  the  mystical  language  of  a 
high  and  fervid  religious  enthusiasm,  matters  little  now ; 
we  are  concerned,  not  with  the  man,  but  with  the  results 
of  his  teaching,  and  their  bearing  upon  progress  and 
welfare. 


CHAPTER   XI 

PRE-CHRISTIAN    CIVILISATION 

LET  us  now  briefly  consider  what  was  the  state  of  the 
civilised  part  of  the  world,  in  regard  to  learning  and 
progress,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 

The  previous  history  of  the  world  shows,  from  such 
records  as  we  possess,  that  civilisation  and  intellectual 
evolution  for  many  centuries  had,  upon  the  whole, 
steadily  advanced,  in  spite  of,  and  in  some  respects  in 
consequence  of,  the  ambitious  and  aggressive  wars  that 
were  waged  almost  incessantly  by  a  few  great  conquering 
powers,  which  in  turn  overran  the  world,  culminating 
eventually  in  the  supremacy  of  the  Romans. 

The  great  problems  of  speculative  thought — God,  the 
soul,  the  government  of  the  Universe — had  occupied  the 
mind  of  man  for  centuries  in  India,  Greece,  and  else- 
where ;  and  the  ability  displayed  in  the  consideration  of 
these  questions  indicates  a  power  of  abstract  thought 
which  probably  is  not  surpassed  by  any  thinker  of  the 
present  day.  Witness  Buddhism,  for  example,  which  was 
founded  about  three  thousand  years  ago  in  India  by 
Gotama,  who,  like  Jesus,  is  supposed  by  his  followers  to 
have  had  a  divine  origin. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-nine  he  voluntarily  abandoned 
all  the  advantages  of  his  royal  birth  and  wealth,  and 
retired  from  the  world  to  live  a  life  of  philosophical 
meditation  and  self-denial.  From  the  light  of  his  own 
intellect  he  evolved  his  theory  of  Nature  and  life  ;  and  it 
is  remarkable  that  after  three  thousand  years  of  labour 
in  the  accumulation  of  knowledge,  both  scientific  and 
philosophical,  the  tendency  should  be  strongly  in  favour 
of  Gotama's  views.  Probably  the  majority  of  thoughtful 
men  are  now  in  intellectual  sympathy  with  the  deep  and 
profound  philosophy  taught  by  Gotama,  under  the  pepul 

147 


148         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


trees  of  India,  at  a  time  when  Europe  was  peopled  by 
hordes  of  barbarians.  While,  since  his  day,  all  other 
religions  which  have  arisen  have  either  declined  and 
perished,  or  are  on  the  downward  grade,  his  alone  has 
grown  with  the  growth  of  human  reason,  and  become 
more  deeply  rooted  in  the  mind  with  every  fresh 
discovery  in  the  realm  of  natural  law. 

In  every  other  religion  yet  given  to  the  world,  the 
articles  of  faith  or  dogmas  have  receded  one  by  one  as 
knowledge  has  advanced  ;  Buddhism,  on  the  contrary, 
receives  additional  support  at  every  step  taken  in  the 
onward  progress.  And  it  is  especially  in  connection  with 
those  great  intellectual  revolutions,  which  are  brought 
about  by  the  discovery  of  far-reaching  natural  laws — 
such,  for  example,  as  Newton's  mechanical  laws  of 
inorganic  construction,  and  Darwin's  discoveries,  re- 
ducing the  world  of  life  to  laws  of  the  same  mechanical 
necessity— that  the  teachings  of  Gotama  become  infused 
with  deep  and  lasting  meaning.  In  him  we  recognise, 
to  a  very  great  extent,  the  spirit,  form,  and  substance 
of  the  monistic  philosophy. 

Buddhism,  as  taught  by  Gotama,  is  more  a  system  of 
ethics  or  philosophy  than  a  religion.  Like  Jesus,  he 
taught  the  absolute  equality  of  all  men  ;  and  to  this 
doctrine  is  due,  more  than  to  anything  else,  probably, 
the  astonishing  progress  and  enduring  success  of  both 
systems. 

Gotama,  like  Zeno,  believed  in  a  supreme  power,  but 
not  in  a  supreme  being ;  and,  like  Aristotle,  he  denied 
the  immortality  of  the  individual  or  the  soul.  He 
contemplated  the  Universe  as  a  vast  automatic  machine, 
and  all  phenomena  as  resting,  in  their  ultimate  analysis, 
on  pure  force.  This  force  was  to  him  an  eternal,  plastic, 
self-impelling  principle  or  existence,  and  beyond  the 
grasp  of  human  thought  to  formulate.  From  its  multi- 
tudinous activities,  as  from  an  inherent  necessity,  arise 
all  phenomena  known  to  us  ;  and  even  if  the  systems 
composing  the  Universe  were  to  be  destroyed,  the 
persistent  activity  of  force  would  renew  them. 

The  so-called  modern  discovery  of  the  persistence  of 
force  was  familiar  to  him,  though  not  perhaps  under  its 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  149 


various  correlations.  Through  his  luminous  and  pro- 
found mind  passed  most  of  the  deepest  philosophical 
thoughts  of  the  present  time.  He  understood  the  limited 
character  and  conditions  of  human  thought  and  know- 
ledge, as  well  as  the  nature  of  reproduction  and  decay. 
In  his  view,  every  existence  known  to  us  is  the  result 
of  the  operation  of  mechanical  laws ;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  persistent  activity  of  universal  force — a  truth  which 
science  has  quite  recently  established.  Even  intellectual 
and  moral  phenomena  were  all  reducible  to  the  same 
basis  as  material  phenomena,  viz.,  pure  force.  Force 
was  to  him  the  ultimate  possible  conception,  the  last 
resting-place  of  the  mind  in  its  contemplation  of  per- 
ceivable existence.  And  is  not  this  still  the  ultimate 
point  reached,  the  deepest  outcome  of  science  and 
philosophy  ? 

He  was  conscious  of  the  immensity  of  the  Universe, 
and  the  innumerable  worlds  it  contains,  and  believed 
that  these  worlds  were  in  a  constant  state  of  instability — 
some  in  process  of  formation,  others  of  decay.  He 
looked  upon  life  and  death,  formation  and  dissolution, 
whether  in  the  organic  or  in  the  inorganic,  as  completing 
the  circle  of  Nature;  but  to  this  circle  there  was  no 
beginning  and  no  end,  except  so  far  as  individual 
consciousness  was  concerned. 

The  end  of  life  was  extinction  of  consciousness,  perfect 
rest — Nirvana ;  but  it  is  said  that  he  believed  this  was 
not  always  to  be  attained  at  the  end  of  the  present  life. 
I  think,  however,  if  I  may  hazard  an  opinion,  that  on 
this  point  Gotama  has  not  been  rightly  understood  ;  and 
that  the  misconception  has  arisen  through  the  doctrine, 
attributed  to  him,  of  the  transmigration  of  the  soul. 
Gotama  could  not  have  believed  in  the  transmigration 
of  the  soul  in  the  literal  sense,  i.e.,  the  actual  transference 
of  the  soul  at  death  to  another  creature,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  the 
soul  at  all  apart  from  the  body.  The  Ego,  he  says,  has 
no  personality,  no  separate  existence ;  it  is  a  nonentity. 
"  All  sentient  beings  are  homogeneous."  The  soul  is  a 
property  of  the  material  organs,  and  disappears  when 
they  are  dissolved,  as  the  flame  disappears  when  the 


150         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


candle  is  blown  out  "  Buddhism  does  not  acknowledge 
the  existence  of  a  soul  as  a  thing  distinct  from  the  parts 
and  powers  of  man  which  are  dissolved  at  death,  and  the 
Nirvana  of  Buddhism  is  simply  extinction."1  How, 
then,  could  it  be  transferred  to  another  organism  ? 

May  we  not  say,  in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of  descent, 
Gotama's  meaning  becomes  clear  ?  All  life  is  homo- 
geneous throughout  Nature,  and  the  superior  intelli- 
gence possessed  by  one  animal,  say  man,  over  another  is 
due  to  the  superior  organism.  The  principle  of  vitality 
in  man  (as  explained  in  a  former  chapter)  is  homogeneous 
with  the  principle  of  vitality  in  all  other  animals  ;  and 
inasmuch  as  the  molecules  of  the  mind  or  brain-cells  in 
man  may  at  his  dissolution  help  to  form  brain-cells  in 
other  animals,  it  may  be  said  in  this  sense  that  man's 
soul  undergoes  transmigration.  I  do  not  mean  to 
imply  that  Gotama  arrived  at  his  conclusions  from  any 
consideration  of  the  cellular  theory,  which  we  may  safely 
conclude  was  unknown  to  him.  Probably  it  was  from 
speculative  thought  concerning  the  life-principle  ;  for  in 
many  of  his  grand  speculations  he  anticipated  modern 
science  to  a  great  extent.  Professor  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids 
says,  referring  to  Buddhism  :  "  In  its  principles  it 
anticipates  much  that  modern  science  has  proved." 

The  reader  will  see  from  the  foregoing  brief  sketch  of 
this  remarkable  man  how  profoundly  he  had  thought 
about  many  of  the  greatest  problems  of  our  life.  And 
if  he  did  not  find  the  solution  of  any,  he  at  least 
traced  them  to  their  physical  causes  as  far  as  any  man 
has  done  yet. 

Respecting  the  time  when  Gotama  lived,  there  are 
many  accounts,  ranging  from  the  sixth  to  the  fourteenth 
century  B.C.  If  we  take  a  mean  of  these,  as  Dr.  Draper, 
in  his  "  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  appears  to 
have  done,  the  principles  of  Buddhism  must  have  become 
the  intellectual  property  of  millions  of  people,  covering 
a  large  surface  of  the  earth,  some  two  or  three  centuries 
before  the  rise  of  Greek  philosophy,  beginning  with 
Thales.  And  though  the  philosophical  speculations 
of  Gotama  could  not  be  understood  by  the  majority 
1  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  434. 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  151 


of  his  followers,  there  would  yet  be  a  sufficient  number 
in  all  the  countries  professing  Buddhism,  by  whom 
his  principles  .would  be  appreciated,  to  mark  a 
very  high  level  of  general  intellectual  attainment  and 
development. 

When  Greek  philosophy,  therefore,  first  appeared,  the 
world  was  already  in  possession  of  some  of  the  principal 
ideas  contained  in  the  early  speculations  of  those 
philosophers.  Whether  or  not  they  were  indebted  to 
the  East  we  cannot  say;  but  it  has  been  suggested 
that  art,  religion,  and  civilisation  may  have  been  carried 
from  the  East  through  Asia  Minor  to  the  ^Egea,  and 
thence  to  Greece. 

We  know  that  the  early  Greek  thinkers  were  greatly 
indebted  to  Egypt,  which  for  centuries,  and  indeed  we 
may  say  for  several  thousand  years  before  the 
intellectual  Greeks  were  heard  of,  had  attained  to 
a  very  high  state  of  culture  and  civilisation.  Egypt 
is  now  the  historical  storehouse  of  the  ancient  world,  in 
which  are  preserved  the  oldest  relics  of  man's  history  ; 
and  every  fresh  discovery  impresses  us  more  and  more 
with  the  conviction  that  in  Egypt  everything  that  indi- 
cates and  characterises  human  progress  was  very  far 
advanced. 

In  the  art  of  building,  the  Egyptians  have  never  been 
surpassed,  if,  indeed,  they  have  ever  been  equalled. 
Some  of  the  grandest  and  most  perfectly  constructed 
buildings  in  the  world  are  in  Egypt.  The  pyramids, 
palaces,  and  temples  are  the  wonder  and  admiration  of 
all  men  ;  and  apparently  they  are  likely  to  remain  so. 
The  social  system  was  as  complex  and  developed  in  its 
way  as  the  social  system  of  Europe  is  at  the  present 
time.  The  arts  and  refinements  of  social  life  were 
cultivated  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection;  and  they 
must  also  have  been  acquainted  with  a  wide  range  of 
scientific  principles,  as  attested  by  their  great  engineer- 
ing and  other  works.  In  intellectual  endowments,  as 
well  as  in  material  prosperity,  they  had  reached  a  high 
level. 

In  one  point  alone  they  were  in  a  state  of  barbarism, 
as  were  all  the  peoples  of  the  ancient  world,  no  matter 


152         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


how  far  advanced  in  all  other  respects — the  altruistic 
faculty,  the  moral  conscience,  had  scarcely  been  born, 
and  man  had  little  regard  for  the  happiness  and 
well-being  of  his  fellow-man. 

"  In  ancient  days  Egypt  had  its  gardens,  orchards, 
and  vineyards ;  vegetable  productions  in  great  variety 
gave  easy  sustenance  to  the  people  ;  and  the  growth  of 
corn  was  so  vastly  in  excess  of  what  the  natives  re- 
quired for  their  own  food  that  the  valley  of  the  Nile  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  granaries  of  the  world." 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  Labyrinth,  which  was 
built  by  twelve  Egyptian  kings  as  a  monument  to  com- 
memorate the  greatness  of  their  reign,  exceeded  even 
the  Pyramids,  and  cost  more  in  labour  and  expense  than 
all  the  great  works  of  the  Greeks  put  together.  In  this 
stupendous  structure  "  the  art  exhibited  in  its  design 
and  execution  is  beyond  description."  In  Egypt, 
wherever  we  turn,  we  have  evidence  of  the  high  state  of 
its  ancient  civilisation.  Buildings  of  such  colossal  pro- 
portions and  grandeur  of  design  could  never  have 
originated  among  a  people  who  had  not  reached  a  very 
high  level  indeed.  "  Man  grows  as  greater  grow  his 
aims." 

Speaking  of  the  Catacombs  at  Thebes,  Mr.  Edmund 
Oilier  says  : 

"  All  is  massive,  superb,  and  regal.  .  .  .  Pillars,  corridors,  halls, 
staircases,  sculptures,  frescoes,  give  splendour  and  dignity  to  this 
sepulchral  realm.  They  who  would  reproduce  the  vanished  life  of 
Egypt  must  study  it  beneath  the  wings  of  death.  .  .  .  Many  of  the 
refinements  of  civilised  life  were  known  to  these  children  of  a  bygone 
age.  Embossed  leather,  stained  with  various  colours,  has  been 
found  there  (in  the  tombs).  The  mummies  are  wrapped  in  linen 
cerements.  Gilding  and  varnishing  were  employed  with  excellent 
taste  and  skill.  Glass  was  used  both  for  articles  of  utility  and  for 
personal  adornment.  Copper  was  cast  in  various  forms,  and  some- 
times rolled  into  sheets.  The  dresses  of  the  richer  classes  were 
ornate  and  splendid,  the  head  was  frequently  covered  with  a  wig, 
and  a  great  deal  of  finely-wrought  jewellery  was  worn.  The  art 
manufactures  of  these  people  were  often  in  admirable  taste  ;  in 
many  respects  they  seem  to  have  anticipated  the  luxurious  inven- 
tions of  modern  times.  The  practice  of  medicine  was  divided  into 
as  many  branches  as  there  were  maladies.  Eggs  were  hatched  by 
artificial  means.     The  mechanical  appliances  by  which  enormous 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  153 


masses  of  stone  were  transported  from  distant  quarries  must  have 
been  elaborate  and  powerful  ;  the  execution  of  so  many  works  at 
once  massive  and  delicate  argues  the  possession  of  a  great  variety 
of  tools." 

Again,  in  regard  to  the  buildings  : 

"  Thebes  might  have  been  a  city  of  the  giants,  so  enormous  was 
the  area  covered,  so  vast  were  the  buildings,  so  Titanic  the  sculp- 
ture, the  gateways,  the  towers,  the  columns,  and  the  approaches. 
Even  in  its  desolation,  the  part  now  called  Karnak  is  astonishing 
in  its  grandeur  and  its  colossal  dimensions.  An  irregular  avenue 
of  sphinxes  extending  2,180  yards  connects  the  southern  termina- 
tion of  the  locality  with  the  northern  entrance  to  the  temple  of 
Luxor  ;  and  at  every  point  are  the  remains  of  numerous  edifices  of 
the  most  extraordinary  splendour  and  majesty." 

Homer,  in  the  Iliad,  describes  Thebes  as  the  hundred- 
gated  city.  Thebes  was  at  one  time  the  capital  of 
Egypt,  and,  according  to  Herodotus  and  Aristotle,  gave 
its  name  to  the  whole  of  the  country. 

We  boast,  and  not  without  reason,  of  our  Suez  Canal ; 
but  as  an  engineering  work,  it  was  probably  surpassed 
by  that  cut  by  Rameses  II.  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red 
Sea,  and  which  "  cost  120,000  lives  and  countless 
treasures  of  money."  This  grand  canal  was  allowed  to 
become  filled  up  with  sand,  and  was  several  times  at 
different  periods  cleaned  out. 

While  the  Egyptians  took  the  lead  in  Mediterranean 
civilisation,  other  peoples  were  scarcely,  if  at  all,  behind 
them.  The  Assyrians  were  a  highly  civilised  people, 
and  many  of  their  great  buildings  could  vie  with  those 
at  Thebes  even  ;  while  in  the  arts  and  sciences  they  are 
known  to  have  made  no  inconsiderable  progress.  In 
music,  sculpture,  ivory-carving,  metallurgy,  modelling, 
mythology,  lexicography,  grammar,  mathematics,  astron- 
omy, astrology,  history,  natural  history,  legends,  geo- 
graphy, topography,  and  law  they  were  well  versed  ;  and 
even  in  the  matter  of  currency  they  are  said  to  have 
used  bank-notes.  Callisthenes,  the  Greek,  found  in 
Babylon  a  series  of  Chaldean  astronomical  observations, 
covering  a  period  of  1,903  years,  which  he  sent  to 
Aristotle.     This  carries  us  back  over  4,000  years  from 


154         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  present  time,  so  that  we  know  that  at  that  distant 
date  astronomy  had  not  only  been  studied  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  but  must  also  have  made  very  great 
progress  ;  for  much  preparation  is  required  before 
accurate  observations  can  be  taken  and  recorded. 

Certain  facts  connected  with  the  construction  of  the 
great  Egyptian  Pyramid  prove  that  the  Egyptians  pos- 
sessed, even  5,000  years  ago,  accurate  and  finely-con- 
structed astronomical  and  other  instruments.  The 
Egyptian  astronomer,  Ptolemy,  had  in  his  possession  a 
Babylonian  record  of  eclipses,  extending  back  747  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  The  Babylonians  knew  the 
length  of  a  tropical  year  to  within  twenty-five  seconds 
of  the  truth ;  and  their  calculation  of  the  sidereal 
year  was  barely  two  minutes  in  excess  of  the  exact 
time. 

They  had  correct  views  of  the  solar  system,  and 
"  knew  the  order  of  emplacement  of  the  planets."  In 
fact,  their  knowledge  of  astronomy  was  both  extensive 
and  accurate.  The  Persians  were  also  a  great  and 
highly-civilised  nation  centuries  before  our  era ;  so  also, 
as  is  well  known,  were  the  Chinese. 

Such  was  the  advanced  condition  of  the  ancient  world 
about  600  B.C.,  at  the  time  when  we  first  hear  of  Greek 
philosophy.  Just  about  this  time  an  event  occurred 
which  was  of  the  very  greatest  importance  to  the  spread 
of  knowledge,  and  occasioned,  as  Dr.  Draper  says, 
the  first  grand  impulse  in  the  intellectual  life  of 
Europe. 

Psammetichus,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  who  was 
one  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  fled  into  Syria,  and  returning 
to  Egypt  with  foreign  aid,  established  himself  as  one  of 
the  twelve  kings.  Having  been  informed  by  an  oracle 
that  he  who  should  make  a  libation  of  brass  would  rule 
over  the  whole  of  Egypt,  he  fulfilled  that  condition 
by  pouring  metal,  in  a  molten  state,  out  of  a  brazen 
helmet.  By  the  aid  of  Greek  mercenaries  he  obtained 
supreme  power  ;  and  by  the  necessities  of  his  situation 
he  overthrew  the  time-honoured  policy  of  all  the  old 
dynasties. 

Down  to  this  time  Egypt  had  been  practically  a  closed 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  155 

nation  to  the  world,  but  with  a  large  infusion  of  foreign 
elements,  especially  Greek,  it  was  no  longer  possible  to 
maintain  the  old  policy  of  seclusion ;  and  the  Egyptian 
ports  were  thrown  open  to  the  world,  making  the 
country  accessible  for  commercial  and  other  purposes. 
Psammetichus  encouraged  the  Greeks  to  settle  in  Egypt 
by  bestowing  land  upon  them,  and  by  fostering  the 
study  of  the  Greek  language.  He  contracted  alliances 
with  the  Athenians,  and  it  may  justly  be  said  that 
through  him,  chiefly,  the  world  was  enriched  with 
Egyptian  civilisation. 

"  Under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids,"  Dr.  Draper 
says,  "  Greek  philosophy  was  born."  But  with  greater 
truth  it  may  be  said,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids 
the  germ  of  European  civilisation  first  started  into  life. 
The  spread  of  commerce  carries  with  it  other  advan- 
tages besides  those  of  material  gain  ;  and  the  Greeks 
and  Italians  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
hitherto  inaccessible  results  of  Egyptian  civilisation. 
With  the  opening  of  the  Egyptian  ports  an  active 
commerce  at  once  sprang  up  between  Greece  and  Egypt, 
and  the  open-minded,  observant  Greek  was  not  long 
before  he  had  established  a  link  between  the  ancient 
world  and  his  own. 

In  the  magnificent  buildings  of  Egypt  are  to  be  found 
the  prototypes  of  the  Greek  architectural  orders,  which, 
under  various  combinations,  now  cover  Europe  and 
America.  Much  of  Greek  ornamentation  and  design 
can  be  traced  to  the  same  source,  as  can  also  the  models 
of  the  Greek  and  Etruscan  vases.  In  the  matter  of 
their  religion,  the  Greeks  borrowed  largely  from  the 
Egyptians. 

The  noble  and  enduring  edifices  erected  to  the  gods, 
the  majestic  granite  statues,  the  solemn  sphinxes,  the 
stupendous  and  beautiful  temples,  the  gorgeous  cere- 
monials, made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon  the 
Greek  mind  in  the  early  days  of  its  evolution.  Not 
only,  however,  in  Greece  was  Egyptian  influence  felt ; 
the  towns  of  Italy  participated  in  the  light  that  was 
reflected  across  the  Mediterranean,  and  contemporane- 
ous with  the  rise  of  philosophy  and  the  arts  in  Greece, 


156        Evolution ',  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  study  of  philosophy  arose  in  Italy.  And  thus  in 
Greece  and  Italy  the  progress  of  the  world  was  continued, 
and  handed  down  to  future  generations. 

The  Greek  mind,  eminently  receptive  and  reflective, 
was  greatly  influenced  for  the  next  two  centuries  by 
Egyptian  civilisation.  On  the  shores  of  the  beautiful 
Mediterranean  the  Greek  meditated  in  wonder  and 
astonishment  on  the  marvellous  things  he  had  seen  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile ;  and  his  keen  perception  of 
beauty,  strength,  and  majesty  of  form,  for  which  the 
Grecian  statues  are  unrivalled,  received  no  little  inspira- 
tion from  his  contemplation  of  Egyptian  architecture 
and  sculpture.  The  sight  of  "the  most  stupendous 
works  ever  accomplished  by  the  hand  of  man  "  raised 
and  enlarged  the  minds  of  the  Greeks ;  and  the  hoary 
antiquity  of  the  nation,  which  seemed  to  go  back  to  the 
very  morning  of  the  world,  whilst  it  filled  them  with 
emulous  admiration,  extended  at  the  same  time  their 
intellectual  horizon. 

Thus  for  a  period  of  over  two  hundred  years  preceding 
the  Macedonian  conquests,  the  Greeks  had  been  brought 
into  contact  with  the  advanced  civilisations  of  Egypt, 
Mesopotamia,  and  Persia  ;  and  when  Alexander 
appeared  upon  the  scene  they  had  pretty  well  mastered 
and  assimilated  the  greater  part  of  what  those  peoples 
had  to  teach. 

It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  with  the 
close  of  Alexander's  conquests  Greece  was  practically 
in  possession  of  most  of  the  valuable  knowledge  of  the 
world  ;  and  no  peoples  who  have  ever  lived  were  better 
qualified  to  extend  and  hand  down  that  knowledge  to 
future  generations.  It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  for 
the  world  that  Alexander  had  for  his  tutor  that  great 
epoch-making  man,  Aristotle.  He  never  forgot  the 
lessons  of  his  youth  ;  and  in  all  his  schemes  of  conquest 
his  old  master's  influence  for  the  acquisition  and  exten- 
sion of  human  knowledge  was  ever  actively  at  work 
within  him.  His  unbridled  passions,  atrocious,  wholesale 
massacres,  and  foul  murders  of  his  friends,  have  earned 
for  him,  from  those  who  have  not  been  blinded  by  the 
brilliancy  of  his  achievements,  the  title  of  an  inhuman 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  157 

monster.  But  he  was  essentially  a  human  monster — 
the  natural  product  of  all  uncontrolled,  irresponsible 
authority  in  man,  in  all  ages. 

With  Aristotle  the  Greek  intellect  enters  upon  a  new- 
phase  of  development.  The  long  and  illustrious  line  of 
thinkers  had  exhausted  merely  speculative  thought,  and 
investigation  of  objective  existence  became  a  necessity 
of  further  advance.  Patient  investigation  of  natural  law 
was  entered  upon  by  men  equipped  with  the  most 
highly  polished  and  fashioned  intellectual  instruments ; 
and  the  result  was,  that  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of 
time  the  peoples  round  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
were  as  famous  for  their  scientific  as  for  their 
philosophical  knowledge. 

Greek  intellect  was  radiating  light  in  all  directions, 
and  knowledge  was  spreading  with  marvellous  rapidity 
wherever  Greek  influence  extended.  Much  of  this  was 
due  to  Alexander,  who,  in  his  expeditions,  was  invari- 
ably accompanied  by  a  whole  host  of  learned  men,  by 
whom  every  item  of  knowledge  that  they  came  into 
contact  with  was  carefully  recorded.  He  furnished 
Aristotle  with  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  placed  at  his 
disposal  a  well-equipped  party  of  searchers  for  specimens 
required  in  the  preparation  of  his  great  work,  the 
"  History  of  Animals." 

"  The  times  were  marked  by  the  ushering  in  of  a  new 
philosophy.  Greece  had  gone  through  her  age  of 
Credulity,  her  age  of  Inquiry,  her  age  of  Faith ;  she 
had  entered  on  her  age  of  Reason,  and,  had  freedom  of 
action  been  permitted  to  her,  she  would  have  given  a 
decisive  tone  to  the  forthcoming  civilisation  of 
Europe."1 

The  campaigns  of  Alexander  had  brought  the  Greeks 
into  contact  with  some  of  the  grandest  and  most  beauti- 
ful scenery  in  the  world  ;  and  the  staff  of  specialists  had 
appropriated  most  of  what  was  of  value  in  Egyptian  and 
Oriental  philosophy  and  religion.  Humboldt  has  ob- 
served that  "  an  introduction  to  new  and  grand  objects 
of  Nature  enlarges  the  human  mind."  The  unparalleled 
development  of  both  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  mind, 
'Dr.  Draper,  "Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  vol.  i.,  p.  174. 


158         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


during  their  wars  of  conquest,  bears  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  this  remark. 

Of  all  Alexander's  conquests,  that  of  Egypt  was  by 
far  the  most  important  to  the  future  of  the  world  ;  for  it 
was  in  the  city  of  Alexandria,  which  he  founded,  that 
the  great  museum  was  established,  which  may  be  truly 
called  the  Mother  of  European  Science.  It  was  in  this 
magnificent  and  unrivalled  institution  that  accurate 
scientific  study  was  first  begun  in  that  regular  and 
orderly  method  of  induction  laid  down  by  Aristotle, 
and  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  scientific  knowledge 
of  our  own  times. 

This  grand  institution  was  established  by  Ptolemy 
Soter,  half  brother  to  Alexander,  and  one  of  his 
generals,  who  became  King  of  Egypt  after  the  death 
of  the  Conqueror.  He  established  his  seat  of  govern- 
ment at  Alexandria,  and  made  it,  not  merely  the  capital 
of  Egypt,  but  the  most  important  and  the  wealthiest 
city  in  the  whole  world.  It  was  the  entrepot  of  the 
East  and  the  West  for  commerce  as  well  as  for  learning. 
Ptolemy  was  a  man  of  large  and  liberal  views,  with  a 
great  love  and  respect  for  knowledge  of  every  kind ; 
and  he  conceived  the  magnificent  idea  of  founding  and 
endowing  a  State  institution  on  so  grand  a  scale  that 
within  its  spacious  walls  could  be  collected  the  whole 
body  of  knowledge  then  known  to  the  world.  His 
object  was  to  collect,  increase,  and  diffuse  knowledge, 
and  for  this  purpose  he  invited  men  from  all  parts  who 
were  most  eminent  in  the  various  branches  of  philosophy, 
science,  and  art.  In  addition  to  the  large  number  of 
Jews  imported  by  Alexander,  Ptolemy,  after  his  siege 
of  Jerusalem,  took  100,000  men  to  Alexandria  ;  and 
Philadelphus,  his  son,  who  succeeded  his  father,  re- 
deemed from  slavery  two  hundred  thousand  of  that 
people,  paying  their  Egyptian  masters  a  just  equivalent 
in  money  for  their  release. 

Greeks  and  Egyptians  flocked  to  Alexandria,  and,  as 
might  be  expected,  men  of  superior  attainments  were 
attracted  by  the  advantages  it  offered  for  study  and  the 
acquisition  of  every  kind  of  knowledge.  It  is  impossible 
at  this  distant  date  to  do  justice  to  the  great  and  en- 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  159 

lightened  man  who  planned  and,  with  the  aid  of  his 
son,  carried  out  this  grand  idea,  or  to  estimate  the 
influence  it  has  had  upon  the  progress  of  Europe.  In 
the  museum  there  was  no  distinction  of  nationality  or 
creed.  Greeks,  Egyptians,  Jews,  all  fared  alike,  and 
learning,  in  whomsoever  found,  was  a  sure  passport  to 
honour  and  distinction.  In  this  emporium  of  enlighten- 
ment the  distinctions  of  birth  and  titles  were  unknown  ; 
they  were  relegated  to  an  inferior  order  of  men.  The 
king  himself  was  accustomed  to  mix  and  converse  freely 
with  the  professors  and  students,  and  frequently  joined 
them  at  the  dinner-table  in  social  and  friendly  inter- 
course, without  any  of  those  assumptions  of  unapproach- 
able superiority  on  the  one  side,  and  degrading  adoration 
and  subservience  on  the  other,  which  too  often  distinguish 
modern  entertainments  and  social  gatherings.  All  these 
nice  gradations  and  distinctions  of  birth,  title,  and  wealth, 
so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  modern  Philistine,  the 
Alexandrians  cast  aside  as  unworthy  the  consideration 
of  those  who  had  attained  to  the  stature  of  men  ;  and,  in 
the  exercise  of  their  just  and  sober  reason,  had  learnt  to 
appraise  all  human  life  at  its  proper  value. 

Greek  engineering  and  architecture  had  made  Alex- 
andria a  city  second  to  none  in  the  world  for  beauty. 
It  was  filled  with  magnificent  palaces,  temples,  theatres, 
baths,  obelisks,  fountains,  and  gardens  ;  and  in  the  heart 
of  the  town,  where  two  great  avenues,  200  feet  wide, 
intersected  each  other,  a  beautiful  mausoleum  was  erected 
for  the  reception  of  the  gold  coffin  containing  the  em- 
balmed remains  of  Alexander,  which  had  been  brought 
from  Babylon,  a  journey  taking  two  years  to  accomplish. 

The  museum  was  built  of  marble,  and  we  gather 
some  idea  of  the  extent  of  this  extraordinary  structure 
from  the  fact  that  at  one  time  there  were  no  fewer  than 
fourteen  thousand  students,  besides  professors,  attendants, 
servants,  and  others,  within  its  enormous  enclosure.  It 
was  surrounded  with  a  spacious  piazza,  in  which  the 
inhabitants,  without  distinction,  could  meet  and  converse 
together  at  their  leisure.  For  the  collection  of  books  a 
regular  staff  of  travellers  was  kept,  who  went  out  in  all 
directions  in  search  of  works  on  every  conceivable  sub- 


i6o        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


ject ;  and  the  librarian  had  permission  to  purchase, 
without  limit,  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  all  books  and 
manuscripts  containing  any  useful  or  curious  information. 
If  the  owner  of  any  book  or  manuscript  was  unwilling  to 
sell  it,  he  was  required  to  lend  it  to  the  museum,  where 
a  large  staff  of  transcribers  was  employed ;  and  after  it 
had  been  carefully  transcribed,  the  copy  was  deposited 
in  the  library,  and  the  original  returned  to  the  owner, 
with  a  money  payment  for  the  use  of  it. 

In  cases  where  the  books  were  bought,  copies  were 
made  and  sent  to  the  owners,  so  that  they  still  retained 
possession  of  the  information  contained  in  their  books. 
In  such  a  wise  and  just  proceeding  we  see  the  solicitude 
of  the  Alexandrians  for  the  spread  of  knowledge.  Whilst 
the  library  was  the  means  of  preserving  whatever  was  of 
value,  no  man  was  the  poorer  in  intellect  or  in  money 
for  his  contributions. 

There  were  eventually  two  distinct  libraries  in  the 
museum,  containing  altogether  seven  hundred  thousand 
volumes,  holding  the  totality  of  human  thought  at  that 
time.  The  apartments  of  the  library  were  crowded  with 
the  choicest  pictures,  statues,  and  other  works  of  art ; 
whilst  decorative  ornamentation  and  design  were  superbly 
beautiful.  Attached  to  the  museum  were  botanical 
gardens  for  the  practical  study  of  plants;  also  a  menagerie 
for  those  who  were  interested  in  the  study  of  zoology. 
A  school  of  anatomy  provided  instruction  in  this  most 
important  subject. 

The  anatomical  section  was  connected  with  the  medical 
college  for  the  education  of  physicians,  the  practical 
study  of  anatomy  being  a  part  of  the  necessary  course 
of  instruction.  The  school  of  anatomy  is,  perhaps,  a 
truer  index  than  anything  else  of  the  greatness  of  the 
Alexandrians.  It  shows  that  they  had  surmounted  the 
superstition  and  ignorance  which,  descending  almost  to 
our  own  times,  has  retarded  the  cultivation  of  a  branch  of 
knowledge  on  which,  more  than  on  any  other  subject, 
human  comfort  and  happiness  depends.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  name  a  science  more  useful  and  valuable 
than  that  which  supplies  us  with  the  means  of  alleviating 
suffering. 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  161 


In  the  astronomical  observatory  astronomers  were 
engaged  in  the  study  and  observation  of  the  heavens ; 
they  used  many  instruments  of  the  same  kind  as  those 
now  in  use.  "  On  the  floor  a  meridian  line  was  drawn 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  instruments."  In  a  similar 
manner  we  lay  down  on  the  floors  of  our  public  buildings, 
for  preservation  and  reference,  our  units  of  measurement. 
They  used  an  equinoctial  and  a  solstitial  armil,  the 
graduated  limbs  being  divided  into  degrees  and  sixths, 
stone  quadrants,  astrolabes,  dioptras,  etc. 

In  this  noble  institution  were  gathered  together  men 
engaged  in  the  study  of  every  branch  of  knowledge, 
literary,  scientific,  philosophic,  and  artistic  ;  and  in  spite 
of  the  deadly  opposition  to  all  learning,  which  obtained 
supreme  power  in  subsequent  ages,  their  influence  has, 
to  some  extent,  shaped  the  modern  world. 

u  There  went  forth  from  them,"  as  Dr.  Draper  says, 
"  a  spirit  powerful  enough  to  tincture  all  future  times." 
Nothing  to  equal  the  Alexandrian  Museum  has  ever 
been  called  into  existence  in  the  history  of  the  whole 
world.  There  is  not  a  single  university  in  Europe  which 
can  be  compared  with  it  in  magnitude  of  construction 
and  comprehensiveness  of  design. 

Between  the  scientific  men  of  Alexandria  and  the 
scientific  men  of  the  present  time  there  is,  indeed,  a 
close  parallel,  though  twenty  centuries  lie  between  them. 
To  think  that  over  2,000  years  ago  the  intelligent  few 
were  engaged  in  combating  powerful  militant  super- 
stitions, similar  in  character  to  those  against  which  the 
intelligent  few  to-day  are  bravely  struggling,  is  surely 
almost  enough  to  make  one  doubt  that  the  truth  will 
ultimately  triumph.  In  those  days  the  mass  of  the 
people  was  under  the  influence  of  theological  dogmas  ; 
and  every  scientific  thought  or  discovery  ran  counter  to 
long  and  deeply-cherished  religious  beliefs. 

All  thoughtful  men  had  outgrown  the  national  creeds, 
and  between  religion  and  science  the  eternal  feud  was 
waged,  with  patient  perseverance  on  the  one  side,  and 
bitter  persecution  on  the  other.  In  Alexandria  the 
cruel  spirit  of  persecution  was  tempered  and  held  in 
check  by  the  enlightened  minds  which  were  in  authority; 

L 


1 62         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

and  other  circumstances  combined  to  moderate  the  zeal 
of  religious  fanaticism  ;  but  in  Greece,  and  elsewhere, 
some  of  the  foremost  men  suffered  death  and  persecution 
for  their  learning. 

In  all  but  the  power  to  inflict  punishment,  the  religious 
bodies  to-day  occupy  a  similar  position  towards  scien- 
tific and  other  thoughtful  men  to  that  which  their  pro- 
totypes, twenty  centuries  ago,  occupied  towards  the 
enlightened  of  that  time.  There  is,  however,  this  sig- 
nificant difference,  that  whereas  the  humblest  classes  of 
ancient  times  were  of  all  grades  the  most  completely 
under  the  influence  of  their  national  religions,  the  working 
classes  of  our  time  are  among  the  most  emancipated. 

About  the  period  of  which  I  am  writing — the  third 
century  B.C. — great  things  had  been  achieved.  Some  of 
the  greatest  monuments  of  human  genius  had  been 
given  to  the  world.  The  most  certain,  the  most  perfect, 
the  most  enduring,  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  written 
thoughts  that  have  ever  proceeded  from  the  brain  of 
man  is,  I  venture  to  think,  the  work  known  as  Euclid. 
Everybody  knows  something  about  Euclid,  and  the  im- 
portant part  it  plays  in  scientific  research.  As  the 
representative  of  truth  for  all  time,  and  for  practical 
construction,  it  stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  works  of 
man.  As  true  to-day  as  when  it  was  first  written,  it  has 
outlived,  and  must  continue  to  outlive,  every  phase  of 
thought,  every  change  of  system,  whether  philosophical, 
scientific,  social,  or  religious  ;  and  it  is  quite  unthinkable 
that  a  time  will  ever  arrive  when  a  single  proposition  of 
Euclid  will  be  found  to  be  untrue.  Relatively  to  thought, 
the  truths  of  Euclid  are  unchangeable,  absolute,  and  final. 
Supposing  the  whole  of  the  propositions  (or  even  the 
greater  part)  to  have  come  from  Euclid,  is  there  any 
other  product  of  a  single  mind  of  which  the  same  can 
be  said  ? 

Euclid  taught  in  Alexandria,  besides  geometry,  various 
other  subjects,  and  wrote  on  Fallacies,  Conic  Sections, 
Division,  Porisms,  etc.,  but  owing  to  the  vigilance  exer- 
cised by  the  Christian  Church  in  subsequent  ages  over 
writings,  "  prying  into  the  secrets  of  God,"  and  other 
causes,  they  have  all  perished,  except  his  geometry,  and 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  163 


part  of  that  even  shared  the  same  fate.  It  is  to  the 
enlightened  Arabs  that  we  owe  the  preservation  of  Euclid ; 
they  translated  and  preserved  the  immortal  work  when 
every  vestige  of  it  had  disappeared  wherever  Christian 
influence  prevailed.  If  we  may  judge  of  the  value  of 
the  lost  works  of  Euclid  by  his  geometry,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  mischief 
wrought  by  the  ignorant  bigots  who  destroyed  them. 

The  influence  Aristotle  has  had  upon  the  world  is 
enormous.  He  was  the  greatest  of  all  the  pioneers  of 
early  science,  and  his  works  have  been  the  source  of  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  our  knowledge  ;  and  yet  only 
about  one-fourth  of  his  writings  have  been  preserved. 
In  like  manner  we  owe  chiefly  to  ecclesiastical  authority 
the  destruction  of  three-fourths  of  the  works  of  that 
great  man. 

The  Alexandrian  Institute  was  the  Alma  Mater  of 
Aristotle's  writings  ;  and  considering  the  great  number 
of  copies  that  must  have  been  made  both  of  his  and  of 
Euclid's  works — for  they  were  in  use  all  over  Greece 
and  Italy,  and  subsequently  in  other  parts — the  zeal  of 
the  Church  must  have  been  very  great  indeed  ;  especi- 
ally as  here  and  there  would  be  found  a  student  to 
whom  such  priceless  works  would  be  very  dear,  and  who 
would  naturally  try  to  hide  and  study  them  in  secret. 
In  later  ages  some  of  the  fathers  interpreted  Aristotle 
in  accordance  with  their  religious  dogmas,  and 
claimed  him  as  a  supporter  of  some  of  their 
views. 

The  name  of  Archimedes  is  almost  as  well  known  as 
that  of  Euclid.  He  was  born  B.C.  287,  and  his  connec- 
tion with  Alexandria  is  testified  by  the  discovery  of  the 
screw,  which  bears  his  name,  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
water  from  the  Nile.  Everybody  has  heard  of  the 
Archimedean  screw,  and  the  many  purposes  for  which 
it  has  been  used  ;  but  this  great  man  was  the  author  of 
many  other  discoveries  and  mechanical  contrivances 
scarcely  less  valuable  than  the  famous  screw,  which  are 
not  so  well  known  to  the  majority.  It  was  he  who 
invented  a  method  for  the  determination  of  specific 
gravity,  by  the  thought  occurring  to  him  as  he  stepped 


164         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

into  his  bath  that  the  cubic  contents  of  any  ir- 
regular body  could  be  asceitained  by  immersing  it  in 
water. 

The  anecdote  of  King  Hiero  suspecting  that  he  had 
been  robbed  by  the  artisan  to  whom  he  had  given  a 
certain  weight  of  gold  to  be  worked  into  a  crown  is 
familiar  to  us,  as  the  incident  which  directed  his 
mind  to  the  train  of  thought  resulting  in  the  valuable 
discovery. 

From  this  discovery  many  others  of  minor  importance, 
though  still  very  valuable,  were  made,  especially  those 
connected  with  the  equilibrium  of  floating  bodies.  He 
is  generally  credited  with  having  discovered  the  theory 
of  the  lever — a  discovery  second,  perhaps,  to  none  in  the 
whole  field  of  mechanics.  The  saying  attributed  to  him, 
"  Give  me  a  fulcrum  on  which  to  rest,  and  I  will  move 
the  earth,"  indicates  the  popularity  of  his  mechanical 
genius.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  Hydrostatics  and 
Hydraulics,  and  established  the  science  of  engineering 
upon  a  solid  mathematical  basis.  At  the  siege  of 
Syracuse,  his  native  town,  by  the  Roman  general, 
Marcellus,  he  is  said  to  have  invented  a  machine  with 
which  the  enemy's  ships  could  be  seized,  as  they  lay  near 
the  wall  of  the  city,  lifted  high  into  the  air,  and  suddenly 
dropped  into  the  water,  to  the  destruction  of  both  ship 
and  crew.  He  is  also  credited  with  having  constructed 
burning  mirrors  which  set  the  Roman  fleet  on  fire 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  besieged  town.  The 
intellect  of  this  one  man  was  more  than  a  match  for  the 
whole  force  of  the  Romans.  His  inventive  genius 
devised  engines  of  war  which  frightened  them,  and 
protracted  the  siege  for  three  years. 

His  discovery  of  the  relation  between  the  volumes 
of  a  sphere  and  its  circumscribing  cylinder  he  himself 
considered  his  greatest  achievement.  And  in  fulfilment 
of  his  desire,  his  tomb  was  marked  with  the  figure  of  a 
sphere  inscribed  in  a  cylinder.  It  was  this  circumstance 
that  enabled  Cicero,  when  quaestor  in  Sicily  (B.C.  75)  to 
discover  the  tomb  of  Archimedes,  which  he  found  over- 
grown with  thorns  and  briers.  The  following  treatises 
from  his  fertile  brain  have  come  down  to  us  : — "  On  the 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  165 


Sphere  and  Cylinder,"  "  The  Measure  of  the  Circle," 
"Conoids  and  Spheroids,"  "On  Spirals,  Equiponderants 
and  Centres  of  Gravity,"  "  The  Quadrature  of  the 
Parabola,"  "  On  Bodies  Floating  in  Liquids,"  "  The 
Psammites,"  "  A  Collection  of  Lemmas."  About  a 
dozen  of  his  works  are  known  to  have  been  lost,  and 
probably  there  were  others  that  shared  the  same  fate. 

The  world  is  fortunate  in  the  preservation  of  so  many 
of  the  writings  of  this  illustrious  man,  which,  no  doubt, 
is  owing  in  great  measure  to  the  fact  that  the  Church 
saw  in  them  no  contradiction  of  any  of  her  dogmas,  or 
danger  to  her  teachings.  A  modern  mathematician  has 
said  of  him  that  he  came  as  near  to  the  discovery  of  the 
Differential  Calculus  as  was  possible  without  the  aid  of 
algebra.  At  the  end  of  the  siege  of  Syracuse,  a  Roman 
soldier  ran  his  spear  through  him  as  he  was  engaged  in 
tracing  some  mathematical  figures  on  the  sand ;  and  so 
perished  one  of  the  most  glorious  intellects  of  ancient  or 
modern  times. 

I  cannot  give  more  than  a  bare  outline  of  some  of  the 
principal  labours  of  a  few  of  the  illustrious  men  who 
flourished  at  Alexandria ;  but  I  hope  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  show  the  high  level  to  which  our  race  had  attained, 
and  serve  to  mark  the  contrast  of  the  decline  which 
accompanied  the  rise  of  Christianity.  Let  different 
writers  account  for  it  as  they  may,  there  is  no  disputing 
the  historical  fact  that  as  the  Christian  religion  rose  to 
power  the  learning  of  the  world  declined  ;  and  from  a 
most  enlightened  and  civilised  condition  man  relapsed 
into  ignorance  and  semi-barbarism  ;  and  the  darkest  and 
most  hopeless  period  of  this  backward  movement  was 
shortly  after  Christianity  had  reached  its  zenith  of  power. 

It  is  also  a  matter  of  history,  which  admits  of  no 
disproof,  that  not  until  the  civil  power  had  severed  itself 
from  religious  domination  did  learning  begin  to  revive ; 
and  in  proportion  as  the  power  of  the  Church  decreased, 
civilisation  prospered.  The  historical  sequences  proving 
the  logical  connection  of  these  movements  are  matters 
of  history.  As  we  proceed,  we  shall  have  an  opportunity 
of  comparing  the  audacious  ignorance  and  presumption 
of  the  fathers  and  heads  of  the  Church,  who  controlled 


1 66         Evolution ,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  power  of  the  world  during  the  dark  ages,  with  the 
wisdom  of  those  whose  works  they  destroyed  wherever 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on  them,  and  whom  they 
frequently  tortured  and  burnt  alive. 

The  principal  stars  of  the  zodiac  were  determined  by 
Aristillus  and  Timocharis,  who  lived  at  Alexandria 
about  300  B.C.  Following  those,  though  not  in  time, 
Hipparchus  made  the  important  discovery  of  the  pro- 
cession of  the  equinoxes.  Aristarchus  wrote  a  treatise 
"  On  the  Magnitudes  and  Distances  of  the  Sun  and 
Moon."  In  this  treatise  he  explains  an  ingenious  method 
for  ascertaining  the  relative  distances  of  two  bodies.  He 
also  calculated  the  magnitude  of  the  sun's  diameter, 
within  a  little  of  the  truth.  This  involved  very  difficult 
observations. 

The  fame  of  Eratosthenes,  who  was  appointed  keeper 
of  the  royal  library,  has  descended  to  us.  By  means  of 
armillary  spheres  which  he  invented,  he  observed  the 
distance  between  the  tropics  to  be  to  the  whole  circum- 
ference of  a  great  circle  as  11  to  83.  He  was  the  first 
to  attempt,  on  correct  principles,  to  determine  the  size 
of  the  earth.  In  addition  to  astronomy,  Eratosthenes 
made  great  contributions  to  mathematics,  geography, 
and  history.  The  geological  submersion  of  lands ;  the 
elevation  of  sea-beds ;  the  articulation  and  expansion  of 
continents ;  the  formation  and  position  of  mountain 
ranges  ;  the  relations  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  many  other 
subjects  too  numerous  for  detailed  account  here,  occu- 
pied his  attention.  He  discovered  that  terrestrial  gravity 
is  not  constant ;  composed  a  work  descriptive  of  the 
earth — physical,  mathematical,  historical — illustrating  it 
with  maps  of  all  the  parts  then  known.  He  solved  the 
problem  of  two  mean  proportions.  Scholars  to-day 
appreciate  the  fragments  of  his  chronicles  of  the  Theban 
kings  which  have  come  down  to  us.  Eratosthenes  was 
also  a  writer  of  poetry,  and  composed  a  poem  on  the 
terrestrial  zones.  His  views  of  the  way  history  ought  to 
be  written  have  only  quite  recently  been  appreciated  ; 
and  even  now  many  historians  think  that  the  principal 
subjects  of  history  should  consist  of  the  lives  of  kings, 
statesmen,  soldiers,  wars,  and  such  like.     At  the  age  of 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  167 


eighty,   the   burden    of    life   becoming   wearisome   and 
oppressive,  he  calmly  sought  his  rest  by  quitting  it. 

Few  educated  persons,  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  entertained  any  doubt  about  the  globular  form 
of  the  earth;  and  the  arguments  then  used  in  proof  of  the 
fact  are  still  resorted  to  by  us.  The  nature  of  eclipses 
was  well  known,  and  their  recurrence  could  be  calculated. 
They  were  familiar  with  the  motions  of  the  earth,  its 
poles,  axis,  the  equator,  equinoctial  points,  arctic  and 
antarctic  circles,  colures,  horizon,  solstices,  the  phenomena 
of  the  moon's  phases,  and  many  other  facts  of  similar 
character  far  too  numerous  to  specify.  Respecting  the 
climatic  distribution  of  heat  and  cold,  they  had  very 
clear  ideas ;  their  principles  were  correct,  though  the 
degrees  of  heat  in  the  torrid  zone,  and  those  of  cold  in 
the  frigid,  were  exaggerated.  This  was  due,  not  to  want 
of  knowledge,  but  to  the  imperfection  of  the  instruments, 
in  the  construction  of  which  we  in  the  nineteenth 
century  have  attained  to  such  marvellous  proficiency. 

The  successors  of  the  great  men  we  have  mentioned 
worthily  carried  on  the  scientific  movement,  and  the 
sciences  continued  to  be  studied  and  enlarged.  In  the 
mathematical  and  physical  department,  Apollonius 
Pergaeus,  some  forty  years  after  the  time  of  Archimedes, 
even  excelled  most  of  those  who  had  gone  before  him. 
His  greatest  and  most  valuable  work  was  on  Conic 
Sections,  in  which  the  first  mention  of  ellipse  and 
hyperbola  appears.  Competent  judges  consider  his 
fifth  book  on  Maxima  and  Minima  to  be  one  of 
the  highest  efforts  of  Greek  geometry.  He  invented  a 
clock,  among  other  ingenious  things. 

Following  Apollonius,  about  160 — 125  B.C.,  we  meet 
with  another  great  name — Hipparchus,  mentioned 
above.  Besides  his  astronomical  discoveries,  he  is 
famed  for  the  methods  he  gave  for  solving  problems 
connected  with  triangles,  plane  and  spherical,  and  the 
table  of  chords  which  he  constructed.  His  discoveries 
in  many  subjects  were  numerous  and  valuable.  Even 
Newton  availed  himself  of  the  aid  of  Hipparchus's 
theory  of  epicycles  and  eccentrics  in  his  "  Principia." 

Next  come   the   astronomers,   Geminus,    Cleomedes, 


1 68         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


and  the  great  Ptolemy,  the  author  of  the  celebrated 
work  "  Syntaxis,"  or  the  mathematical  construction  of  the 
heavens.  Space  will  not  allow  us  to  go  into  the 
numerous  discoveries  and  labours  of  Ptolemy.  His 
name,  in  connection  with  astronomy,  is  almost  as  well 
known  as  that  of  any  modern  astronomer  ;  and  his 
work  on  geography  was  used  in  European  schools  down 
to  the  fifteenth  century.  His  commanding  genius  was 
the  outcome  of  all  that  had  preceded  him  in  those 
departments  of  knowledge  with  which  his  name  is 
connected.  As  an  astronomer,  he  was  unrivalled  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  until  the  appearance  of  the 
illustrious  Copernicus  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Many  great  astronomers  succeeded  him  at 
Alexandria  and  elsewhere,  until  intellectual  darkness 
set  in  ;  but  not  one  could  be  compared  with  him  for 
mightiness  of  genius  or  multitudinous  achievements. 

Astronomy,  however,  still  continued  for  some  time 
longer  to  be  studied  ;  and  its  boundaries  were  steadily 
enlarged  by  the  patient  labours  of  men,  who,  though 
they  had  not  the  genius  of  Ptolemy,  were  still  in 
possession  of  the  learning  of  their  age.  For  over 
sixteen  hundred  years  no  man  arose  to  dispute  the 
supremacy  of  Ptolemy ;  and  after  the  annexation 
of  Alexandria  by  the  Romans,  scarcely  an  astronomer 
is  worth  mentioning  until  we  get  to  modern  times. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  at  this  great  and  important 
epoch  of  the  world's  history.  We  have  arrived  at 
the  Christian  era.  We  have  not  yet  mentioned  the 
condition  of  the  Roman  world  at  this  time,  which  was 
far  advanced  in  material  and  intellectual  progress. 
We  shall  come  to  that  presently.  The  establishment  of 
Alexandria,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  the  means 
of  forming  a  centre  of  learning,  in  which  all  the 
knowledge  of  the  world  had  been  collected  together ; 
and  from  which  scholars  and  professors  went  forth  in 
all  directions,  many  finding  their  way  to  Rome  and 
other  great  cities,  where  their  influence  was  felt  in  the 
spread  of  the  knowledge  they  had  acquired  in  Alexandria. 
From  the  descriptions  of  Alexandria,  which  is  said  to 
have   been  the  most  beautiful  city  in  the  world — and 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  169 


there  were  many  noble,  beautiful  cities  at  that  time — we 
may  fairly  conclude  that  there  is  scarcely  to  be  found 
its  superior  in  Europe  in  modern  times. 

The  two  chief  avenues  which  intersected  each  other 
were  each,  as  we  have  said,  200  feet  wide  ;  one  was 
three,  the  other  one  mile  long.  Is  there  a  city  in 
Europe  to-day  with  such  noble  roadways  ?  These 
avenues  were  adorned  with  the  most  beautiful  and 
majestic  palaces  and  other  buildings.  After  the  taking 
of  the  city  by  the  Arabians  in  640,  following  a  siege 
lasting  fourteen  months,  the  general  wrote  to  his  master, 
the  Caliph  Omar,  that  he  had  taken  a  city  containing 
"4,000  palaces,  4,000  baths,  12,003  dealers  in  fresh  oil, 
12,000  gardeners,  and  400  theatres  or  places  of  amuse- 
ment." 

Ptolemy  Soter  began  the  erection  of  the  famous 
lighthouse,  Pharos,  near  the  city,  which  was  finished  by 
his  son,  Philadelphus.  It  cost  800  talents,  equal  to 
£248,000,  an  enormous  sum  in  those  days.  This  grand 
structure  was  400  feet  high,  and  a  magnificent  monu- 
ment of  engineering  skill.  Elegances  and  refinements, 
equal  to  those  of  modern  times,  were  enjoyed,  not  only 
by  the  Alexandrians,  but  also  by  the  inhabitants  of 
numerous  other  cities  in  those  days.  The  towns  of 
Greece  were  scarcely,  if  at  all,  behind  Alexandria  in 
point  of  architectural  beauty  and  grandeur  of  design  ; 
and  they  were  the  homes  of  civilisation  and  learning  of 
a  very  high  order — especially  Athens,  as  all  the  world 
knows.  In  their  systems  of  government  they  had 
overcome  some  of  the  difficulties  that  confront  us  to-day. 
Lycurgus  is  said  to  have  solved  the  problem  of  capital 
and  labour  by  abolishing  poverty  in  Sparta.  Under  the 
system  which  he  devised,  and  the  laws  he  made  for 
carrying  it  out,  it  was  impossible  to  accumulate  riches, 
and  for  the  same  reason  poverty  became  an  impossibility. 
There  were  no  poor,  because  tliere  were  no  rich  people  in 
Sparta. 

From  all  these  facts  we  get  a  picture  of  the  high  state 
of  civilisation  of  the  world  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era.  To  what,  then,  are  we  to  attribute  the 
decay   of    all    this    learning,   civilisation,   and    general 


170         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

progress,  and  the  centuries  of  stagnation  which  followed  ? 
Dr.  Draper  strikes  the  true  keynote  when  he  says  : 

"The  talents  which  might  have  been  devoted  to  the  service  of 
science  were  in  part  allured  to  another  pursuit,  and  in  part 
repressed.  ...  In  the  very  institutions  by  which  she  had  once 
been  glorified,  success  could  only  be  attained  by  a  conformity 
to  the  manner  of  thinking  fashionable  in  the  imperial  metropolis, 
and  the  best  that  could  be  done  was  to  seek  distinction  in  the  path 
so  marked  out.  Yet  even  with  all  this  restraint,  Alexandria 
asserted  her  intellectual  power,  leaving  an  indelible  impress  on  the 
new  theology  of  her  conquerors.  During  three  centuries  the 
intellectual  atmosphere  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  been  changing. 
Men  were  unable  to  resist  the  steadily  increasing  pressure. 
Tranquillity  could  only  be  secured  by  passiveness.  Things  had 
come  to  such  a  state  that  the  thinking  of  men  was  to  be  done  for 
them  by  others  ;  or,  if  they  thought  at  all,  it  must  be  in  accordance 
with  a  prescribed  formula  or  rule.  Greek  intellect  was  passing 
into  decrepitude,  and  the  moral  condition  of  the  European  world 
was  in  antagonism  to  scientific  progress."  x 

Dr.  Draper  plainly  refers,  in  this  passage,  to  the 
power  exercised  by  the  Christian  Church.  The  "  de- 
crepitude "  of  the  Greek  intellect  was  due,  not  to  any 
natural  decay,  but  to  its  suppression  by  force  chiefly, 
and  in  part  to  the  allurements  offered  to  men  of  intellect 
by  the  Church.  The  Church  became  the  only  avenue 
to  emoluments,  power,  and  distinction  ;  and  in  time  she 
was  able  to  effect  her  purpose  most  completely  by 
obtaining  control  of  the  education  of  the  young,  for 
which  she  has,  in  all  ages,  fought  strenuously  ;  and  it 
must  be  admitted  that  she  has  succeeded  in  retaining 
this  most  effective  of  all  her  weapons  against  progress 
and  enlightenment,  even  down  to  the  present  day. 

She  has  never  lost  sight  of  this  irresistible  power,  or, 
in  all  her  long  history,  failed  for  one  moment  to  estimate 
to  the  full  its  influence.  Witness  her  daily  contests 
with  the  secular  tendencies  of  the  age  in  all  matters 
where  the  education  of  the  young  is  concerned,  and  her 
appeals  to  the  ignorant  and  bigoted  of  all  classes  to 
rescue  the  children  from  the  "  godless  "  teaching  of  the 
Board  Schools.  The  Church  is  now,  as  she  has  always 
been,  the  bitter  and  uncompromising  enemy  of  education. 
1  "  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  vol.  i.,  p.  205. 


Pre-Christian  Civilisation  171 

She  knows  well  what  it  means  to  her ;  and  with  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation,  she  has  consistently  opposed 
the  spread  of  knowledge.  In  nearly  all  other  educational 
establishments  the  clergyman  reigns  supreme.  Let  the 
Church  have  the  forming  of  the  tender  and  impression- 
able minds  of  the  young,  and  she  can  afford  to  laugh  for 
many  years  to  come  at  educational  and  other  Acts  of 
Parliament. 

If  the  Greek  intellect  had  been  permitted,  it  would 
have  controlled  the  civilisation  of  Europe,  and  there 
would  have  been  no  dark  Middle  Ages.  All  the  glorious 
results  arrived  at  by  Ptolemy,  and  the  great  men  who 
preceded  and  followed  him,  would  have  been  handed 
down  in  an  ever-increasing  volume  to  all  succeeding 
generations ;  and  our  Copernicuses,  Galileos,  Keplers, 
and  Newtons  would,  in  all  probability,  have  appeared  in 
the  early  part  of  this  era,  instead  of  during  the  last  four 
centuries. 

And  may  we  not  reasonably  conclude  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  victory  obtained  by  the  Crescent  over  the 
Cross  in  Egypt  in  the  seventh  century,  when  what  was 
remaining  in  Alexandria  fortunately  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Arabs,  there  would  probably  have  been  no 
Copernicus,  Galileo,  Kepler,  or  Newton  for  some  centuries 
yet  to  come  ?  It  was  the  Arabians  who  preserved  the 
works  of  the  philosophers  and  scientists  which  they 
found  in  the  conquered  city,  and  it  is  to  their  enlighten- 
ment we  owe  it  that  they  have  come  down  to  us.  The 
tale  told  of  Caliph  Omar  ordering  his  general  Amrou 
to  destroy  the  great  library  is  said  to  have  been  an 
invention  of  the  Christians  to  saddle  their  opponents 
with  their  own  bad  conduct.  Long  before  this  period 
it  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Christians  themselves. 

"  When  Theodosius  the  Great  consented  to  allow  the 
Christians  to  destroy  all  the  heathen  temples  in  the 
Roman  Empire,the  magnificent  temple  of  Jupiter  Serapis, 
which  contained  the  library,  was  not  spared.  A  mob  of 
fanatic  Christians,  led  on  by  the  Archbishop  Theophilus, 
stormed  and  destroyed  the  temple,  together,  it  is  most 
likely,  with  the  greater  part  of  its  literary  treasures,  in 
391   A.D.  .   .  .    The  historian  Orosius,  who  visited  the 


172         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


place  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  by  the  Christians, 
relates  that  he  then  saw  only  the  empty  shelves  of  the 
library."  1 

Let  us  now  turn  to  imperial  Rome ;  we  are  still  under 
the  influence  of  the  legacy  that  she  bequeathed  to  us. 

1  "Chambers'  Encyclopaedia,"  article  "Alexandrian  Library." 


CHAPTER  XII 

DECADENCE     OF     ROME 

FOLLOWING  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  and  while  the 
Alexandrians  were  peacefully  extending  the  empire  of 
knowledge,  the  Roman  Republic  was  steadily  pursuing 
that  policy  of  conquest  and  annexation  which  eventually 
left  Rome  mistress  of  the  world.  Sagacious,  active,  un- 
scrupulous, and  heartless,  the  Roman  character  exem- 
plified the  selfish  instincts  of  man  in  all  their  naked 
hideousness.  The  beginning  and  end  of  all  Roman 
policy,  whether  under  the  Republic  or  the  Empire,  were 
conquest  and  material  aggrandisement,  regardless  of  the 
rights  and  sufferings  of  the  people  whose  territories  they 
invaded,  plundered,  and  annexed. 

They  were  not  hampered  in  their  dealings  by  any 
scruples  of  conscience  or  pity,  It  is  well  to  bear  this  in 
mind  ;  it  is  the  key  to  the  policy  and  conduct  of  the 
powerful  spiritual  organisation  which,  growing  at  first 
under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Empire,  eventually  seized 
the  reins  of  authority  and  exercised  supreme  control. 

Rome  early  turned  her  covetous  eyes  towards  Greece, 
and  under  pretext  of  assisting  the  Athenians  against  a 
threatened  Macedonian  enemy,  obtained  a  footing  in 
the  classic  land.  Just  previously  to  this  she  had  con- 
quered Carthage,  compelling  the  Carthagenians  to  pay  a 
fine  of  two  millions  of  pounds.  The  war  with  Antiochus, 
king  of  Syria,  resulted  in  that  monarch  having  to  cede 
to  Rome  the  whole  of  his  possessions  in  Europe,  and 
those  of  Asia  north  of  Mount  Taurus,  together  with  a 
money  payment  of  three  millions  of  pounds. 

The  Greeks  fought  bravely  against  the  encroachments 
of  the  Romans,  but  they  were  no  match  for  the  legions 
which  now  poured  in  upon  them,  and  it  ended  in  the 
annexation  of  Epirus  and  Illyricum.     Subsequently,  on 

i73 


174        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  occasion  of  a  revolt  against  the  tyranny  of  the 
Romans,  Corinth,  Thebes,  and  Chalcis  were  sacked 
and  burnt,  and  all  the  art  treasures  carried  off  to  Rome. 
Spain  next  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rapacious  Republic, 
and  was  annexed  as  a  province ;  the  greater  part  of  Asia 
Minor  followed,  and  Rome  became  completely  glutted 
with  wealth.  At  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  Rome  was 
practically  mistress  of  the  world,  and,  as  it  was 
significantly  said,  all  roads  led  to  Rome. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Romans  had 
for  some  time  been  masters  in  Greece.  They  now 
turned  their  attention  to  Egypt,  and  Alexandria 
became  a  Roman  town,  the  ill-fated  Cleopatra  being  the 
last  of  the  Egyptian  monarchs.  The  spirit  which  chiefly 
animated  the  Romans  was  war  and  conquest ;  extension 
of  dominion  was  the  ruling  passion,  and  in  all  cases  with 
them  the  end  justified  the  means.  If  it  were  necessary  to 
sacrifice  any  number  of  lives  for  the  attainment  of  an 
object,  they  were  sacrificed  without  compunction  or 
hesitation ;  but  they  were  not,  as  a  rule,  wanton 
destroyers,  nor  did  they  interfere  with  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  conquered  races  more  than  was  necessary 
for  establishing  the  permanence  of  their  rule  and  the 
carrying  out  of  their  system  of  government.  The 
religions  of  the  different  peoples  subject  to  the  Roman 
power  were  respected  ;  or  rather,  they  were  treated  with 
contemptuous  indifference,  but  were  not  interfered  with 
by  the  conquerors.  Such  was  the  uniform  conduct  of 
the  Romans  towards  the  vanquished. 

Their  vigorous  and  able  minds  led  them  to  utilise  and 
benefit  by  all  they  saw  and  heard  in  the  many  countries 
over  which  they  held  sway  ;  and  their  beloved  city  of 
Rome  was  the  constant  object  of  their  care  and  atten- 
tion. To  make  it  a  city  fit  to  be,  as  it  really  was,  the 
capital  of  the  world,  no  exertions  and  no  expense  were 
spared.  How  they  succeeded  is  testified  by  the  fact  that 
for  centuries  Rome  has  been  one  of  the  great  show- 
places  of  the  world,  as  much  on  account  of  the 
magnificence  of  its  remains  as  having  been  the 
theatre  of  the  most  momentous  events  in  European 
history. 


Decadence  of  Rome  175 


Here  and  there  in  the  Italian  peninsula  were  to  be 
found  men  of  great  attainments  in  various  subjects,  but 
in  Rome  itself  all  branches  of  learning  were  studied  in 
the  schools,  and  great  proficiency  had  been  attained  by 
the  upper  classes.  Some  of  the  great  names  at  this 
period  are  second  only  to  the  greatest  names  of 
Greece  and  Alexandria.  Between  Rome  and  Greece 
there  had  long  been  going  on  that  interchange  of  advan- 
tages which  always  takes  place  between  two  peoples 
who  are  in  touch  with  each  other  ;  and  constantly  Greek 
teachers  found  their  way  to  Rome,  where  they  were 
invariably  received  with  open  arms.  Rome,  therefore, 
at  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  was  in  possession 
of  the  most  advanced  civilisation ;  and  her  foremost 
men  were  quite  capable  of  extending  the  boundaries 
of  knowledge,  and  handing  it  down  to  future 
generations. 

Long  before  Christianity  had  obtained  much  power 
and  influence,  polytheism  in  all  its  forms  had  lost  much 
of  its  vitality,  even  with  the  mass  of  the  people.  For 
centuries  it  had  been  gradually  dying  around  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean ;  from  the  time,  in  fact,  when  the 
commercial  activity  began  between  Egypt  and  the 
Mediterranean  nations.  Intercourse  between  the  peoples 
brought  their  innumerable  gods  together,  and  set  up  a 
rivalry  between  their  various  pretensions,  which  had  the 
effect  of  opening  the  minds  of  their  devotees. 

In  Rome,  which  was  a  small  world  in  itself,  and 
contained  the  elements  of  all  nations,  there  were  about 
twenty  thousand  gods,  and  no  man  possessing  any  in- 
telligence could  long  be  a  spectator  of  such  a  marvellous 
assemblage  of  the  gods  of  the  different  nations  without 
having  his  faith  in  them  weakened.  The  progress  of 
philosophical  thought,  physical  discoveries,  and  other 
forms  of  intellectual  activity  were  doing  their  work,  and 
penetrating  the  minds  of  the  masses,  producing  gradu- 
ally those  changes  in  the  public  mind  which  lead  to  the 
acceptance  of  new  ideas.  Moreover,  many  peoples  had 
witnessed  the  impunity  with  which  their  gods  could  be 
insulted,  maltreated,  and  destroyed  by  the  enemy ;  thus 
conveying   the   impression    that  men  with  whom    they 


176        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

themselves  could  contend  were  more  powerful  than  their 
gods. 

The  religions  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  never  had 
any  great  hold  over  the  intellectual  classes ;  they  were 
all  followers  of  some  school  of  thought  or  other. 

Christian  writers  have  generally  pictured  the  world  as 
sunk  in  the  most  miserable  and  abject  superstition  and 
ignorance,  from  which  it  was  rescued  by  the  teachings 
of  Christianity.  Nothing  could  be  wider  of  the  truth. 
It  is  true  that  the  gods  were  still  worshipped  in  all  those 
parts  where  early  Christianity  spread  ;  but  they  were 
fast  losing  their  influence,  and  had  become  objects  of 
derision  in  many  places,  almost  as  much  as  objects,  of 
veneration.  The  forms  of  worship  remained  long  after 
life  had  departed.  This  is  always  the  case  in  all  social 
institutions,  but  in  none  are  the  forms  so  tenacious  of 
life  as  those  of  religion,  especially  when  it  has  struck  its 
roots  deeply  through  the  growth  of  ages. 

The  idols  were  shattered,  not  by  the  teaching  of 
Christian  doctrine,  but  by  those  innumerable  influences 
under  the  incessant  operation  of  which  the  transforma- 
tion of  thought  and  feeling  is  effected  both  in  indivi- 
duals and  in  societies.  Indeed,  it  would  be  within  the 
actual  facts  to  maintain  that  the  Christian  Church  pro- 
longed the  existence  of  paganism  by  the  alliance  that 
she  subsequently  contracted  with  it.  By  this  is  pot 
meant  a  prolongation  of  the  forms  of  paganism,  which, 
as  we  know,  still  constitute  a  great  part  of  the  ritual 
and  doctrine  of  the  Church  ;  but  the  essence  and  sub- 
stance of  polytheism,  which  gathered  new  life  and  addi- 
tional strength  as  it  became  amalgamated  with  the 
rising  religious  power. 

It  is  true  that  when  in  Rome  the  new  creed  was  es- 
tablishing itself,  and  making  converts,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  had  reached  a  low  stage  of  debasement ;  but  it 
is  also  true  that  the  degradation  went  on  step  by  step 
with  the  rise  of  Christianity.  And  so  far  from  the  new 
teachers  arresting,  or  assisting  to  arrest,  the  downward 
course,  they  were  engulfed  in  the  whirlpool  of  de- 
moralisation which  embraced  the  whole  of  the  society 
of  Rome  ;  and  the  simple  teaching  of  the  noble-hearted 


Decadence  of  Rome  177 

founder  was  overlaid  by,  if  not  entirely  lost  in,  the  mass 
of  corruption  which  soon  went  under  the  name  of 
Christianity. 

Where  now  were  the  communism  and  the  equality  of 
men  which  Jesus  taught — those  parts  of  the  Christian 
creed  to  which  it  owed  most  of  its  vitality,  and  probably 
its  very  existence  ?  Roman  Christianity  purify  rotten 
Rome !  Before  that  great  mass  of  debased  humanity 
began  to  emerge  from  its  seething  cauldron  of  de- 
bauchery, Roman  Christianity  had  become  a  part  and 
parcel  of  it ;  and  when,  in  a  subsequent  age,  the  civil 
power  in  the  Eternal  City  died,  the  hierarchy  became 
heir  to  all  its  crimes,  without  one  single  feature  of  its 
redeeming  virtues  !  And  under  the  cloak  of  religion, 
with  her  hands  folded  in  mock  humility  and  piety,  the 
Roman  Church  became  a  greater  scourge  of  the  human 
race  than  ever  the  Romans  had  been  in  the  very 
worst  days  of  their  conquests.  No  heart  to-day  could 
bear  the  burden  of  reading  a  full  history  of  her  crimes. 
"  Vicegerents  of  God  on  earth,"  indeed  ! 

The  corruption  of  Rome  was  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  her  enormous  wealth,  and  was  in  no  sense 
connected  with  the  religious  element,  Christian  or  pagan. 
Demoralisation  keeps  pace  with  the  increase  of  riches 
wherever  men  are  collected  together  in  the  contagious 
atmosphere  of  cities  ;  and  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
the  city  of  Rome  was  practically  the  receptacle  of  the 
riches  of  the  world.  Nothing  demoralises  men  and 
societies  so  completely,  and  so  rapidly,  as  unbounded 
wealth,  unless  it  be  abject  poverty.  Few  men  can  long 
remain  virtuous  who  are  subject  to  either: 

In  considering  the  condition  of  the  Roman  world,  we 
must  guard  ourselves  against  confounding  it  with  Rome 
itself.  The  city  of  Rome,  whilst  becoming  the  metro- 
polis of  the  world,  and  by  far  the  wealthiest  and  most 
important  city,  was  yet  but  one  town  ;  and  in  point  of 
magnitude  and  number  of  inhabitants  was  but  a  fraction 
of  the  Roman  world,  which  embraced  within  its  wide 
area  thousands  of  towns,  peopled  by  different  races. 
These  towns,  not  being  subjected  to  the  demoralising 
influences  which  destroyed  society  in  Rome,  escaped  her 

M 


178         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


fate  for  the  time  being,  though  they  were  destined 
ultimately  to  fall  under  the  shadow  of  another  power 
equally  deadly  to  the  healthy  growth  of  society. 

For  the  present  they  shared  in  the  general  progress 
which  was  stimulated  by  several  causes,  but  more 
especially  by  the  activity  and  spread  of  commerce,  all 
the  provinces  of  the  empire  being  in  close  trading 
relations  with  one  another.  This  was  not  only  con- 
ducive to  material  prosperity,  it  facilitated  the  spread  of 
knowledge ;  and  soon  the  provinces  participated  in 
much  of  the  civilisation  and  the  arts  and  sciences  for 
which  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Rome  itself  were  so 
famous.  The  Adriatic  and  the  Mediterranean  were 
covered  with  ships  laden  with  merchandise,  and  every 
vessel  carried  the  seeds  of  social  growth.  Wherever 
the  Roman  soldiers  conquered,  there  they  settled,  and 
introducing  the  knowledge  they  had  acquired,  the  most 
distant  provinces  were  in  possession  of  aqueducts, 
bridges,  noble  roads,  grand  buildings,  and  useful  en- 
gineering works.  "Arts,  science,  improved  agriculture 
spread  among  them." 

Rome  was  an  empire,  probably  the  greatest  and  most 
powerful  ever  known,  but  it  was  not  a  nation  ;  the 
Romans  had  no  country  though  they  ruled  the  world. 
Their  only  country  was  the  city  of  Rome.  They 
settled  down  peacefully  amongst  the  peoples  they 
conquered,  and  in  time  became  merged  and  lost  in 
them.  To  the  conquered  nations  they  carried  their 
civilisation,  and  while  they  disappeared  as  Romans 
they  emerged  as  Europeans;  and  the  people  who 
swallowed  them  up  and  transformed  them  partook 
of  their  advanced  knowledge  and  capacities. 

From  being  hordes  of  little  better  than  barbarians 
they  soon,  under  the  civilising  influence  of  the  Roman 
element,  entered  upon  the  highroad  of  progress.  And 
while  the  Roman  <Empire  was  disappearing,  the  nations 
of  Europe  were  forming  and  growing ;  and  had  they 
been  permitted  to  develop  their  resources,  under  the 
guidance  of  all  that  they  had  acquired  from  their  con- 
querors, probably  there  would  have  been  no  stagnation 
of  hundreds  of  years  to  record  in  their  history.     While, 


Decadence  of  Rome  1 79 

therefore,  the  pandemonium  within  the  great  city  itself 
was  consuming  the  inhabitants,  sapping  all  authority, 
and  preparing  the  downfall  of  the  empire,  the  rest  of  the 
world  was  making  great  progress  ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  superstitions  of  every  kind  were  on  the 
fair  road  to  extinction. 

Tacitus  laments  the  decline  of  religion.  "The  holy 
ceremonies  of  religion,"  he  says,  "were  vio^ted."  From 
this  we  gather  that  the  superstitious  observances,  which 
went  under  the  name  of  religion,  were  not  only  neglected, 
but  had  become  the  subjects  of  jest  and  ridicule.  The 
sacerdotal  order,  with  all  the  ceremonies  and  beliefs,  was 
falling  into  decay  and  losing  influence  with  all  classes. 

The  causes  of  change  in  public  sentiment  and  thought 
are  subtle  and  numerous,  and  never  cease  to  operate  for 
the  smallest  fraction  of  time. 

Besides  the  causes  already  mentioned  of  the  decline 
of  the  authority  of  the  gods,  another  powerfully  dis- 
integrating factor  was  their  removal  from  place  to  place, 
necessitated  by  the  aggressive  wars  of  Rome.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  gods  was  local,  and  their  habitation  could 
not  be  disturbed  without  lessening  their  authority,  and 
creating  disastrous  confusion  in  the  minds  of  their 
followers.  But  the  glorious  results  of  Greek  and 
Alexandrian  genius  were  capable  of  universal  diffusion, 
and  gathered  strength  as  they  spread.  Natural  truths 
are  confined  to  no  particular  locality  ;  they  appeal  to  the 
reason  under  all  circumstances  of  time  and  place. 

The  application  of  physical  discoveries  to  the 
necessities  and  comforts  of  life  is  perhaps  the  most 
impressive  of  all  the  instruments  of  social  progress 
among  the  people  at  large ;  and  has  proved,  especially 
during  the  last  three  or  four  centuries  of  our  time,  quite 
irresistible  in  combating  the  "  spiritual "  threats  of  the 
churches  of  all  denominations. 

In  the  early  periods  of  European  civilisation  there  had 
gone  forth  from  those  great  centres  of  knowledge,  Greece, 
Alexandria,  and  Rome,  an  intellectual  impulse  which 
had  stamped  itself  upon  the  nations,  and  was  gradually 
moulding  their  progressive  development.  And  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  as  it  assisted  in  destroying  the 


l8o         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

reign  of  the  multitudinous  idols,  it  would  have  taken  the 
lead  in  transforming  religious  sentiment  and  thought 
into  higher  and  purer  ideals.  I  have  endeavoured, 
though  very  inadequately,  to  give  a  bare,  brief  outline 
of  the  condition  of  the  world  at  the  beginning  of  the  rise 
of  Christianity. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  rise  and  progress 
of  Christianity,  treating  only  of  those  important  facts  on 
which  the  subordinate  series  depended.  We  have  no 
true  history  of  Christianity,  and  never  can  have  now. 
The  Christian  historians  have  so  distorted  the  facts,  and 
taken  for  granted  the  falsehoods  of  the  fathers  who 
destroyed,  as  far  as  possible,  the  means  of  detection,  that 
there  is  now  not  sufficient  material  available  for  a  truthful 
history. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

FROM    THE   RISE  OF  CHRISTIANITY    TO    CONSTANTINE 

In  ancient  times,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  a  common 
occurrence  for  "  virgins "  to  give  birth  to  god-begotten 
children  ;  and  without  adopting  any  particular  theory 
respecting  the  rise  of  the  divine  origin  attributed  to 
Jesus,  we  can  understand  that  Joseph  and  Mary  might 
be  induced,  by  the  awful  punishment  awarded  to  the 
crime  of  unchastity,  to  shield  themselves  under  the  story 
about  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  expectation  of  a  Messiah 
was  at  that  time  filling  the  Jewish  mind,  and  the  story 
would  therefore  be  all  the  more  easy  of  belief. 

Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  mankind  is  asked  to 
believe  that  God  came  upon  earth  in  the  form  of  a  man, 
and  after  having  led  a  wandering  life  for  a  few  years, 
without  producing  any  very  great  impression  upon  the 
people,  he  was  put  to  death  for  preaching  doctrines  not 
approved  of  by  the  Jewish  authorities. 

With  the  life  of  Jesus,  however,  we  are  very  little  con- 
cerned. He  ran  the  course  usual  with  most  founders  of 
new  religions — obtained  a  few  adherents  to  whom  he 
transmitted  his  ideas,  hopes,  and  fears  ;  and  ended  his 
life,  as  all  other  mortals  do,  without  any  supernatural 
manifestation.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  which  he  is  said  to  have  taught,  was 
not  by  any  means  a  revelation  to  man  ;  it  was  familiar 
to  the  world  long  before  he  was  born,  and  was  a  subject 
of  widespread  speculation  during  his  time.  Indeed,  as 
Dean  Milman  says,  "  in  a  certain  sense,  it  was  already 
the  popular  belief  among  the  Jews."1 

After  the  death  of  Jesus  his  few  followers  continued 
to  preach  his  doctrines;  and  in  time  the  sect  grew  in 
numbers  and  influence,  and  spread  over  Palestine  and 

1  "  History  of  Christianity,"  vol.  i.,  p.  340. 
181 


1 82         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

Greece,  finding  their  way  to  Rome  and  Alexandria. 
The  varying  degrees  of  success  which  attended  the 
spread  of  Christianity  were  similar  in  their  general 
character  to  those  in  the  growth  of  every  new  religion. 
The  Galilean  preachers,  leaving  their  homes  and  means 
of  livelihood,  and  proceeding  to  Jerusalem,  had  to  be 
supported  by  alms  or  contributions  from  their  converts. 

In  time  these  contributions  grew  into  a  very  consider- 
able fund;  and  after  supplying  the  needs  of  the  preachers, 
the  overplus  was  distributed  among  the  poor.  This 
came  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  proselytising 
elements  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  was  one  of 
the  earliest  causes  of  dissension  arising  among  them. 
Accusations  of  unfair  distribution  of  alms  are  met  with 
among  the  earliest  records  of  the  religion,  before  even  it 
had  extended  the  boundary  of  its  operations  beyond 
Palestine.  In  religion,  as  in  everything  else,  money 
makes  the  wheel  spin  round  ;  and  it  is  no  reproach  to 
any  religion  that  it  has  to  avail  itself  of  this  purely  mun- 
dane element.  No  god  has  ever  yet  found  for  his 
servants  any  other  means  of  support ;  he  leaves  those 
who  do  his  work  to  be  fed  and  clothed  from  the  labour 
of  other  men,  many  of  whom  are  in  a  state  of 
semi-starvation. 

The  contest  between  Christians  and  pagans  in  Greece, 
Rome,  and  Alexandria  began  very  early,  and  was  some- 
times carried  on  with  great  bitterness  on  both  sides, 
especially  in  later  times  by  the  Christians.  The  ancient 
religions,  as  has  been  said,  were  crumbling  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  this  fact  made  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
much  easier  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  except  in  Palestine,  as  a  rule, 
the  opposition  offered  by  individuals  was  more  of  a 
passive  than  of  an  active  character. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Christians  under  some  of  the 
Roman  emperors  would  seem  to  contradict  this,  as  would 
also  the  frightful  contests,  often  resulting  in  massacre 
and  bloodshed  on  a  large  scale  ;  but  the  fact  remains 
that  the  ancient  superstitions  had  lost  their  primitive 
vitality  and  hold  over  the  majority.  Had  this  not  been 
the  case,  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  Christianity  would 


Rise  of  Christianity  183 

have  died  in  the  land  of  its  birth,  probably  in  the  first 
half  century  of  its  existence. 

It  is  well  that  we  should  bear  this  in  mind,  because 
Christian  writers  have  invariably  maintained  that  their 
religion  made  its  way  in  early  years  by  the  force  alone 
of  its  divine  character,  in  opposition  to  every  kind  of 
hatred,  superstition,  and  the  civil  power  of  nations 
arrayed  against  it.  It  requires  but  little  reflection  to  con- 
vince us  that  this  was  not  the  case.  An  insignificant 
sect,  such  as  the  Christians  were  in  the  first  century, 
could  never  have  made  headway  except  by  the  indiffer- 
ence and  toleration  of  the  Roman  powers.  It  was  quite 
another  matter  in  after  years  when  it  had  grown  to  great 
numbers  and  power,  and  had  made  numerous  converts 
among  the  ruling  classes,  who  were  influenced  chiefly  by 
political  considerations,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
Christianity  has,  in  fact,  always  been  more  of  a  political 
than  a  purely  religious  organisation. 

The  many  forgeries  and  falsehoods  in  which  early 
Christian  writers  have  been  detected  should  make  us 
receive  with  caution  their  statements  respecting  the 
treatment  they  received  from  the  Roman  authorities ; 
and  when  we  have  no  testimony  from  the  other  side  we 
can  only  use  reason  as  our  guide  in  accepting  or  reject- 
ing their  statements.  In  so  doing,  we  shall  naturally 
seek  for  motives  for  the  conduct  attributed  by  the 
Christians  to  their  religious  opponents  ;  and  if  we  find 
that  conduct  to  be  altogether  at  variance  with  their 
habitual  proceedings  under  similar  circumstances, 
without  any  assignable  motives  for  such  deviation,  we 
shall  feel  ourselves  justified  in  treating  those  assertions 
of  wanton  cruelty  as  a  part  of  the  system  of  pious  fraud 
which  we  know  the  Christians  pursued  in  furtherance  of 
the  interests  of  their  religion. 

As  a  rule,  the  governing  classes  at  Rome  had  no  strong 
personal  feelings  on  religious  subjects ;  and  the  exi- 
gencies of  their  position  compelled  universal  toleration 
of  all  forms  of  belief.  It  was  the  policy  of  Rome,  alike 
through  the  personal  inclination  of  the  governors  and 
from  the  necessities  of  the  situation,  to  afford  protection 
to   the  numerous  religions  of  the  peoples  under  their 


184         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


control ;  and  it  is  well  known  how  inflexible  the  Romans 
were  in  pursuing,  at  all  hazards,  any  line  of  policy 
which  was  deemed  to  be  in  the  interests  of  the 
empire. 

Reason  is  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  persecution  to 
which  the  Christians  allege  they  were  subjected.  They 
were  only  one  among  a  thousand  sects  ;  they  were,  they 
tell,  a  peaceable,  law-abiding  community,  and  taught 
obedience  to  the  people.  Why,  then,  should  they  have 
been  singled  out  from  a  thousand  others  for  punishment 
and  cruel  persecution  by  the  mighty  power  of  Rome  ? 
The  presumption  is  that  the  Christians  have  invented 
many  of  these  tales  of  persecution,  and  greatly  ex- 
aggerated others,  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  the 
sympathies  of  posterity;  and  to  give  the  impression  that 
Christianity  grew  so  rapidly  in  power  and  numbers 
that  the  jealousy,  hatred,  and  fear  of  Rome  was 
excited. 

A  word  from  either  of  the  emperors  who  have  been 
accused  of  torturing  the  Christians  would  have  crucified 
every  living  soul  among  them  in  the  city  of  Rome 
within  a  few  hours  of  the  promulgation  of  the  order.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  those  who  were  executed  met 
their  death  for  the  violation  of  religious  laws  and  disturb- 
ing the  public  peace,  for  which  the  Christians  in  after 
ages  became  very  famous. 

That  the  Emperor  Nero  was  guilty  of  the  most 
atrocious  cruelties  to  the  Christians  we  have  on  the 
authority  of  Tacitus  ;  but  it  was  not  the  result  of  Roman 
policy,  or  fear  of  the  obscure  sect.  Nero  was  suspected 
of  being  the  author  of  the  great  fire  of  Rome,  and  to  turn 
the  attention  of  the  people  from  himself,  he  accused  the 
Christians  of  the  crime ;  and  tortured  and  burnt  them  in 
the  gardens  of  his  palace,  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled 
Romans,  who  pitied  the  sufferings  of  the  unfortunate 
people.  On  the  spot  where  the  first  Christians  were 
burnt,  the  popes,  in  after  years,  built  their  gorgeous 
palace,  from  which  went  forth  papal  decrees  which 
rivalled  the  doings  of  Nero  himself  in  cruelty. 

It  may,  from  the  human  point  of  view,  seem  an 
extraordinary   thing  that   in    their   hour   of   trial    they 


Rise  of  Christianity  185 

derived  no  succour  from  the  God  whose  work  they  were 
performing,  and  in  whose  honour  they  suffered  ;  while 
yet  it  was  a  common  thing  for  him  to  interpose  his 
power  for  the  accomplishment  of  all  sorts  of  unimportant, 
insignificant  events,  at  times  and  places  invariably 
hidden  from  the  eyes  of  unbelievers.  If  their  God  was 
constantly  performing  miracles,  and  otherwise  assisting 
his  devout  servants  in  spreading  those  truths,  on  the 
acceptance  or  rejection  of  which  the  everlasting  happi- 
ness or  misery  of  man  depended,  and  to  teach  which  he 
himself  came  down  to  earth  in  human  form ;  surely  it 
would  be  but  reasonable  and  just  to  expect  that  among 
his  many  acts  of  grace  he  would  vouchsafe  his  assistance 
to  man  in  those  moments  of  agony  when,  in  his  help- 
lessness, his  enemies  were  triumphing  over  him  and  the 
cause  for  which  he  suffered. 

To  convert  a  jailor,  an  earthquake  is  made  to  burst 
open  the  prison  doors ;  but  when  Paul,  the  great 
preacher  and  expounder  of  religious  doctrine,  to  whose 
exertions  probably  more  than  to  those  of  all  others  who 
preceded  him  the  spread  of  Christianity  was  due,  is  in 
dire  peril  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  no  assistance  is 
forthcoming ;  and  his  head  is  chopped  off  without  any 
sign  whatever  from  the  supernatural  source  whence  so 
many  had  appeared  in  connection  with  infinitely  smaller 
matters. 

On  this  subject  Gibbon,  in  his  famous  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  chapters,  is  very  caustic.  He  says  :  "  During 
the  age  of  Christ,  of  his  apostles,  and  of  their  first 
disciples,  the  doctrine  which  they  preached  was  con- 
firmed by  innumerable  prodigies.  The  lame  walked,  the 
blind  saw,  the  sick  were  healed,  the  dead  were  raised, 
demons  were  expelled,  and  the  laws  of  Nature  were 
frequently  suspended  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  But 
the  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome  turned  aside  from  the 
awful  spectacle,  and,  pursuing  the  ordinary  occupations 
of  life  and  study,  appeared  unconscious  of  any  alterations 
in  the  moral  or  physical  government  of  the  world. 
Under  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  the  whole  earth,  or  at  least 
a  celebrated  province  of  the  Roman  empire,  was  involved 
in  a  preternatural  darkness  of  three  hours.     Even  this 


1 86         Evolution^  and  its  Bearifig  on  Religions 

miraculous  event,  which  ought  to  have  excited  the 
wonder,  the  curiosity,  and  the  devotion  of  mankind, 
passed  without  notice  in  an  age  of  science  and 
history ! " 

Speaking  of  Seneca  and  Pliny,  who  wrote  on  natural 
phenomena,  being  in  ignorance  of  this  greatest  of  all 
wonders,  the  historian  says :  "  Both  the  one  and  the 
other  have  omitted  to  mention  the  greatest  pheno- 
mena to  which  the  mortal  eye  has  been  witness  since 
the  creation  of  the  globe." 

The  conversion  of  Paul  was  by  far  the  most  important 
event  in  the  early  life  of  Christianity.  He  was  the  first 
among  the  preachers  who  possessed  any  education  to 
speak  of,  and  even  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  very 
successful  in  making  converts,  except  amongst  the  illiter- 
ate; The  "  commanding  eloquence  "  with  which,  we  are 
told,  the  illiterate  preachers  overawed  great  multitudes  is 
repeated  in  our  time  by  the  preachers  of  the  Salvation 
Army;  and  their  converts  were,  no  doubt,  from  similar 
classes. 

Christian  writers  declare  that  the  polished  intellects  of 
the  Greeks  enabled  them  to  appreciate  the  "  high  and 
sublime  truths"  that  Paul  preached  to  them  on  the 
Areopagus  at  Athens.  Secular  history  tells  that  the 
educated  Greeks  treated  Paul  and  his  doctrines  with 
supreme  indifference.  Even  the  one  or  two  conversions 
of  people  of  some  position  that  Dean  Milman  says  he 
made  on  this  occasion  there  appears  to  be  some  doubt 
about ;  but  it  is  certain  that  if  he  met  with  any  consider- 
able success,  it  could  only  have  been  with  the  untutored 
mob,  many  of  whom  had  long  since  shaken  off  the 
influence  of  their  gods.  To  the  end  of  the  first  century 
Christianity  was  confined  chiefly  to  the  poor  and  lowly, 
to  whom  it  strongly  appealed.  But  numbers,  no  matter 
from  what  class,  become  powerful,  especially  when 
organised.  "  The  slight  and  contemptuous  notice  ex- 
cited by  Christianity  during  the  first  century  of  its 
promulgation  is  in  strict  accordance  with  this  ordinary 
development  of  the  great  and  lasting  revolutions  in 
human  affairs." 1  Even  so ;  but  where  was  the  un- 
1  Dean  Milman,  "  History  of  Christianity,"  vol  ii.,  p.  i. 


Rise  of  Christianity  187 

paralleled  influence  said  to  have  been  exerted  by  Paul 
wherever  he  went  ? 

He  travelled  over  the  whole  area  of  the  Christian  field, 
"  from  the  borders  of  Syria,  as  far  as  Spain,  and  to  the 
city  of  Rome  " ;  and  in  every  place  he  visited  he  left 
Christian  colonies — communities  of  poor  men  and 
women,  who  now  learnt  that  in  the  eye  of  the  Supreme 
Power  they  were  of  as  much  importance  as  the  high- 
born, rich,  and  powerful  ;  and  that  when  their  earthly 
trials  and  sorrows  were  ended  they  would,  by  joining 
this  sect,  go  to  a  place  of  everlasting  bliss.  No  religion 
had  hitherto  appeared  among  men  so  calculated  to  win 
the  hearts  of  the  poor  as  the  Christian  religion  ;  and  if 
it  had  maintained  its  early  comparative  purity,  and 
taught  only  the  permanent  and  ever-vital  truth,  the 
equality  of  men,  it  might  have  been  a  blessing  for  all 
time. 

While,  however,  it  was  so  eminently  adapted  to  enlist 
the  sympathies  and  affections  of  the  poor  and  untaught, 
it  was  of  all  known  religions  the  one  most  likely  to  be 
rejected  by  the  sages  and  educated  classes  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  So  far  from  Christianity  presenting  to  the 
Greek  world  "  high  and  sublime  truths,"  it  asked  men  to 
believe  in  what  appeared  to  them  incomprehensible 
contradictions. 

To  bring  the  matter  more  forcibly  home  to  our  minds, 
we  might  assume,  as  a  parallel  case,  some  preachers  from 
the  Salvation  Army  asking  Professor  Huxley,  Mr. 
Herbert  Spencer,  and  Sir  Robert  Ball  to  discard  all 
their  "  notions  "  of  science  and  philosophy,  and  believe 
in  the  simple  creed  founded  upon  a  literal  interpretation 
of  the  Bible.  If  these  gentlemen  were  further  asked  to 
believe  that  a  companion  of  the  preachers,  who  had  been 
travelling  about  with  them  preaching  socialism,  and  in- 
citing the  people  to  riot  and  disorder,  and  who  had  just' 
been  hanged  for  the  commission  of  some  capital  offence 
against  the  laws,  was  really  the  great  God  of  the  Uni- 
verse, the  author  of  all  their  science  had  taught  them, 
and  that  he  was  also  his  own  son,  may  it  not  be  fairly 
asked,  would  the  "  polished  intellects  "  of  these  gentle- 


1 88         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

men  qualify  them  for  the  acceptance  of  such  "  high  and 
sublime  truths  "  ? 

The  cultured  minds  in  the  time  of  Jesus  were  as 
capable  of  forming  a  correct  judgment  upon  such 
matters  as  the  eminent  men  mentioned  above ;  and  the 
latter  would  be  just  as  likely  to  reject  as  untrue  all  their 
knowledge  of  science  and  philosophy,  at  the  bidding  of 
the  ranters,  as  the  former  would  be  to  forswear  the 
grand  achievements  of  Greek  intellect  for  the  "  sublime 
truths "  of  the  untaught  preachers  of  Galilee.  In  the 
first  century,  at  least,  the  Christians  were  in  little  danger, 
for  even  their  own  historian  has  put  on  record  that  they 
excited  little  notice,  and  that  was  of  a  contemptuous 
character.  If,  therefore,  Paul  was  beheaded,  it  was  not 
because  he  was  a  Christian,  but  because  he  had  by  his 
conduct  rendered  himself  amenable  to  the  law  which 
awarded  the  death  penalty  for  his  offence.  As  a  pagan, 
he  would  have  been  similarly  dealt  with  for  the  same 
crime. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  second  century,  Christianity 
had  spread  o.ver  the  whole  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  there  were  few,  if  any,  towns  of  importance  where  it 
had  not  obtained  a  footing.  Unlike  the  Hebrew  religion, 
it  was  essentially  a  proselytising  creed  ;  it  opened  its 
arms  wide  to  all,  without  distinction.  It  offered,  with 
no  uncertain  voice,  an  eternal  future  of  happiness  to  all 
who  embraced  its  doctrines  with  unquestioning  faith. 
It  spoke  with  a  voice  of  authority  in  which  there  was 
no  hesitation  or  doubt. 

Men  who  believed  that  the  eternal  God  had  come  to 
earth  to  teach  them  the  ways  of  salvation  to  life  ever- 
lasting beyond  the  grave  would  speak  with  all  the 
power  and  earnestness  of  conviction ;  and  it  is  well  known 
the  influence  speakers  exercise  over  their  audience  when 
they  truly  believe  what  they  preach,  and  have  the  ability 
to  enforce  their  teaching  in  fervid,  if  rugged,  language. 
To  believe  that  he  was  doing  the  work  of  the  eternal 
Power  might  well  give  to  every  Christian,  however 
humble  and  ignorant,  unbounded  courage  to  persist  in 
spreading  the  precious  knowledge,  in  spite  of  dangers 
and  difficulties.     He  was  in  direct  personal  touch  with 


Rise  of  Christianity  189 

his  God,  who  looked  with  an  eye  of  approval  upon  all 
he  did,  and  what  to  him,  under  such  circumstances,  were 
any  dangers  which  threatened  merely  his  " worthless" 
body,  in  comparison  with  the  salvation  of  his  everlasting 
soul  ?  Their  master  was  but  a  little  distance  above 
them  in  the  heaven  that  he  had  prepared  for  them  ; 
and  had  he  not  told  them  that  he  would  shortly  come 
again  in  his  wrath  and  destroy  the  whole  earth  by 
fire? 

There  was  not  a  soul  among  them,  who  had  really 
embraced  Christianity,  who  did  not  literally  believe  that 
the  end  of  the  world  was  close  at  hand ;  and  that  Christ 
would  a  second  time  appear  amongst  them  to  reward 
the  good — the  Christians — and  punish  the  bad — all  who 
were  not  Christians — with  the  awful  torments  of  eternal 
fire.  To  the  believer  in  Christ,  a  home  in  heaven 
transcending  all  conceptions  of  human  happiness ;  to 
the  unbeliever,  a  lake  of  living  fire,  in  which  the  damned 
were  to  burn  without  consuming  for  ever  and  ever, 
through  all  eternity  ;  and  one  of  these  two  alternatives 
was  near  at  hand ;  there  was  no  possible  escape  from  the 
awful  doom  except  by  becoming  a  Christian  and  believing 
in  Jesus. 

With  their  minds  constantly  filled  with  such  thoughts, 
we  can  understand  the  zeal  with  which  they  pressed,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  the  priceless  boon  upon  the 
pagans.  If  they  were  in  error,  they  were  grimly  uncon- 
scious of  it;  and  no  earthly  power  could  have  enlightened 
them,  for  the  reason  that  they  had  not  the  understanding 
to  which  reason  alone  could  have  appealed.  The 
opponents  of  Christianity,  who  represent  the  early 
Christians  as  impostors,  are  either  insincerely  unjust  or 
know  little  of  the  subject.  It  was  very  different  in  after 
years,  when  it  had  attained  to  sovereign  power.  The 
horrible  lives  of  many  of  the  higher  ecclesiastics  during 
several  centuries  forbid  the  belief  that  they  had  any  faith 
whatever  in  the  doctrines  of  their  church — in  the 
godhead  of  its  founder,  or  in  the  life  hereafter  which  he 
promised  them. 

In  these  considerations  is  to  be  found  an  explanation 
of  the  "persecutions"  of  the  Christians  under  some  of 


190         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  emperors.  With  a  few  exceptions  of  monstrous 
conduct  on  the  part  of  emperors  who  were  fiends  in 
human  shape,  the  Christians  suffered  little  persecution. 
This  word  has  been  abundantly  used  by  Christian 
writers  for  describing  the  punishments  awarded  to  Chris- 
tians for  breaking  the  laws.  One  of  the  most  stringent  of 
Roman  enactments  forbade  the  formation  of  organised 
societies,  or  secret  gatherings  of  any  kind.  To  this 
prohibition  the  Christians  paid  no  heed  ;  and  owing  to 
such  violation  of  the  laws  under  which  they  lived,  and 
which  as  good  citizens  they  were  bound  to  obey,  they 
were  incessantly  in  conflict  with  the  Roman  authorities. 

Organisation  was  the  essence  of  progress  in  Chris- 
tianity, and  for  this  the  Christian  possessed  the  greatest 
genius.  From  the  earliest  times  methodical  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  propagating  the  faith  and  making 
converts  ;  and  wherever  they  went  they  organised 
themselves  into  regular  bodies,  the  focus  of  which  was 
the  church,  where  they  assembled  and  held  their  meet- 
ings. They  sternly  held  aloof  from  the  pagans,  and 
refused  all  communication  with  them,  even  in  the  daily 
offices  of  life,  in  which,  however  minutely,  were  blended 
any  of  the  forms  or  ceremonies  of  paganism.  And  since 
the  pagan  religion  permeated  the  whole  of  social  life,  it 
was  impossible  for  the  Christians  to  form  any  part  of 
the  community,  except  as  a  distinct  and  separate  body. 
This  brought  them  into  conflict  with  the  established 
customs  ;  and  it  was  for  breach  of  law  that  they  suffered 
punishments,  and  not  because  they  were  Christians  qua 
Christians.  Every  government  in  Europe  to-day  would 
act  similarly  towards  any  bodies  of  men  who  should 
persist  in  setting  at  defiance  the  laws  of  the  land  in 
which  they  live. 

So  far  as  the  pagan  populace  was  concerned,  the 
Christians  met  with  little  opposition  or  molestation.  It 
was  a  matter  of  supreme  indifference  to  them  what  god 
or  gods  the  peculiar  sect  worshipped  ;  they  were  too 
much  accustomed  to  varieties  of  gods  to  pay  any  heed 
to  either  the  worship  or  to  the  gods  of  their  neighbours. 
Not  so,  however,  with  the  Christians  ;  they  were  com- 
manded by  their  God  to  extirpate  all  other  gods.     He 


Rise  of  Christianity  191 

could  not  brook  a  rival ;  and  in  the  belief  of  his  wor- 
shippers, no  duty  was  so  sacred  or  so  acceptable  to  him 
as  the  destruction  of  his  rivals. 

They  went  about,  therefore,  uprooting  what  they 
called  idolatry,  which  means  that  they  outraged  the 
feelings  and  susceptibilities  of  their  neighbours  on  every 
occasion.  Whenever  they  had  an  opportunity,  they 
violated  the  temples,  and  destroyed  the  gods  that  they 
contained.  They  interfered  in  all  the  religious  cere- 
monies of  their  fellow-townspeople,  brandishing  a  great 
wooden  cross  before  their  faces,  and  thrusting  it  in 
between  processions  of  worshippers  ;  they  shouted 
eternal  torments  as  they  went  through  the  streets  to 
all  who  refused  to  listen  to  them,  and  to  accept  the 
doctrines  of  the  new  creed.  Their  intolerance,  arrogance, 
and  audacity  knew  no  bounds  ;  and  it  is  a  most  melan- 
choly fact  of  history,  that  as  soon  as  they  gained 
sufficient  strength  they  deluged  the  streets  of  every 
town  of  the  empire  with  blood.  They  were  the  first  to 
resort  to  violence ;  and  they  never  ceased  until  the 
consolidation  of  their  power  with  that  of  the  empire 
was  effected,  when  the  victims  of  the  church  were 
handed  over  to  the  civil  power  to  be  burnt  alive,  with 
the  pious  formula,  "  Deal  mercifully,  and  shed  no 
blood  ! " 

But  it  was  not  always  with  the  pagans  that  these 
scenes  of  carnage  were  enacted.  The  Christians  soon 
became  split  up  into  numerous  divisions  over  trifling 
points  of  doctrine ;  each  sect  being  distinguished  by  an 
appellation.  Concerning  the  nature  of  Christ,  creed 
after  creed  arose.  To  the  Ebionites  he  was  merely  a 
man ;  to  the  Docetes,  a  phantasm,  and  so  on.  There 
were  the  Gnostics,  the  Donatists,  the  Arians,  the 
Pelagians,  the  Nestorians,  the  Eutychians,  the  Mono- 
thelites,  the  Mariolatrists,  the  Trinitarians,  and  a  host 
of  others,  all  of  whom  fought  desperately  among  them- 
selves. Some  idea  may  be  gathered  of  the  mass  of 
contradictory  beliefs  constituting  the  Christian  religion 
from  the  fact  that  the  Gnostics  alone  were  divided  into 
fifty  sects !  They  were  the  most  intelligent  of  the  lot. 
In  the  incomprehensible  language  of  the  Trinitarians, 


192         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


human  reason  reached  its  lowest  depth.  Never  before 
or  since  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  such  a  melan- 
choly spectacle  witnessed,  or  the  intelligence  of  man 
so  completely  degraded.  "  High  and  sublime  truths," 
indeed,  to  teach  to  the  sages  and  intellectual  classes  of 
Greece,  Rome,  and  Alexandria ! 

So  far  as  Rome  itself  is  concerned  in  the  progress  of 
art,  science,  philosophy,  and  general  civilisation,  it  must 
be  regarded  during  the  third  century  as  a  city  that  had 
reached  the  zenith  of  its  prosperity  and  influence,  and 
which  contained  the  seeds  of  its  own  dissolution,  apart 
from  the  incursions  of  barbarians,  or  other  external 
causes.  Unbounded  wealth  had  undermined  the  founda- 
tions of  its  former  greatness,  and  led  to  those  scenes  of 
disorder  and  civil  discord  which  proved  so  favourable 
to  the  Christian  cause.  Rome  had  lost  her  moral 
supremacy  in  the  empire  before  Diocletian  removed 
his  court  to  Nicomedia. 

The  decline  of  Rome,  as  given  by  historians,  beggars 
all  description  ;  it  would  serve  no  purpose,  however,  to 
repeat  here  the  well-known  tale. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  represent  the  followers  of  Christ 
as  pure  and  uncontaminated  by  the  demoralisation  that 
was  going  on  around  them,  and  as  labouring  for  the 
purification  and  conversion  of  the  degraded  populace. 
Perusal  of  contemporary  history  disproves  this ;  and 
though  we  may  discount  a  good  deal  of  the  mass  of 
accusations  that  was  brought  against  the  Christians 
from  time  to  time,  we  cannot  escape  the  conviction  that 
they  also  were  infected  with  the  dissoluteness  and 
immorality  which  reigned  supreme  in  all  ranks  of 
society.  This  conviction  is  further  confirmed  from  a 
consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  papacy  which  grew 
out  of  the  disintegrated  and  rotten  mass.  It  was  not  a 
foreign  element  superimposed  upon  it,  but  a  part  of 
itself,  born  and  nurtured  in  Rome,  and  composed  of  its 
different  classes.  It  drew  its  life-blood  from  the  same 
source,  and  during  the  whole  of  its  existence  it  never 
belied  its  origin ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  excelled  in 
infamy  even  the  very  worst  periods  in  the  life  of  its 
progenitors. 


Rise  of  Christianity  193 


It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  soil  more  fertile  for  the 
growth  of  the  papacy  than  was  Rome  at  this  time.  The 
ancient  religions  discarded  by  the  great  majority,  satiated 
with  riotous  living  and  weakened  by  general  demoralisa- 
tion, the  native  vigour  of  mind  which  had  carried  the 
Romans  on  from  victory  to  victory  until  they  had  become 
masters  of  the  world  had  entirely  deserted  them.  By 
this  time  the  Christians  were  a  strong,  numerous,  and 
well-organised  body  in  Rome,  and  were  to  be  found  in 
all  grades  of  society. 

The  bishop  had  become  a  very  important  personage, 
and  had  assumed  the  position  and  authority  of  a  secular 
lawgiver  to  his  churches  and  people,  in  addition  to  being 
their  spiritual  head  and  guide.  In  proportion  as  Rome 
declined  the  religion  flourished ;  and  step  by  step  the 
bishop  fought  his  way  to  supreme  power,  until  the  cross 
was  planted  on  the  Capitol  of  Rome.  The  awful  con- 
tests that  were  carried  on  between  the  three  bishops  of 
Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Constantinople  for  supremacy, 
eventually  resulting  in  the  triumph  of  Rome  and  the 
creation  of  its  pope,  are  well  known. 

Bribery  and  corruption  were  the  most  harmless 
agencies  used  by  the  higher  ecclesiastics  for  com- 
passing their  ends.  Murder  on  the  largest  scale  was 
freely  resorted  to,  and  one  of  the  bishops  of  Constanti- 
nople, Macedonius.  had  three  thousand  people  slaughtered 
to  get  possession  of  his  episcopal  throne. 

The  Christians  were  no  longer  an  obscure  sect ;  they 
had  made  converts  in  the  very  highest  quarters,  the  wife 
and  daughter  of  Diocletian,  the  great  emperor,  being 
among  them.  In  the  army  there  were  also  many 
Christians,  and  grave  consequences  were  likely  to  ensue 
from  their  refusal  to  join  in  the  pagan  rites  which  were 
universally  observed  by  the  Roman  soldiers.  It  was  not 
so  much  their  numbers,  however,  as  their  aggressive 
attitude  which  made  the  Christians  so  formidable  at  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  at  the  time  when  the 
power  of  the  Roman  authorities  was  considerably 
weakened  by  the  wars  that  raged  between  the  emperors 
for  a  number  of  years,  culminating  in  the  defeat  and 
destruction  of  one  after  another,  until  the  Roman  em- 

N 


J  94         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

pire  was  once  again  united,  in  the  person  of  Constantine 
the  Great,  under  a  single  ruler. 

We  can  scarcely  realise  the  effect  upon  the  Roman 
Empire  of  Christian  aggressiveness  at  this  time,  their 
doctrine  of  passive  obedience  notwithstanding.  There 
was  not  a  town,  and  scarcely  a  village,  in  the  whole  of 
the  vast  dominions  under  Roman  sway  that  did  not 
contain  an  organised  proselytising  body  of  Christians, 
who  incessantly  attacked,  not  only  the  pagan  religions, 
but  also  learning  of  every  description.  And  although 
they  did  not  and  could  not  succeed  in  making  much 
impression  upon  the  intellectual  classes,  they  found  the 
means  of  harassing  them  considerably  with  their  inces- 
sant importunities  and  the  continued  public  disturbances 
which  everywhere  took  place.  Notwithstanding  all  this, 
however,  it  is  doubtful  if  Christianity  would  have 
become  the  religion  of  Europe,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
civil  power  adopting  and  forcing  it  by  sword  and  faggot 
upon  the  world. 

The  question  may  reasonably  be  asked  :  Since  the 
world  was  fast  outgrowing  its  faith  in  Polytheism — and 
the  majority  of  men  need  a  religion  of  some  kind,  for  it 
is  one  of  the  strongest  elements  in  human  nature — what 
was  there  which  could  succeed  Polytheism  ?  It  will  be 
generally  admitted  that  the  current  religion  among  us  is 
a  different  thing  now  from  what  it  was  a  century  or  two 
ago;  that  many  of  the  doctrines  have  been  quietly 
dropped  and  allowed  to  fall  out  of  use  in  the  churches. 
Among  thoughtful  people  Christianity  has  become  more 
a  system  of  ethics  than  a  dogmatic  creed.  And  if 
civilisation  had  not  been  arrested,  and  the  learning  that 
was  in  the  world  in  the  early  centuries  of  our  era  had 
been  allowed  to  spread  and  grow,  may  we  not  reasonably 
assume  that  if  Christianity  had  taken  the  place  of 
paganism,  it  could  only  have  done  so  under  some  such 
form  as  that  in  which  it  is  now  regarded  by  many,  viz., 
a  purely  monotheistic  creed,  shorn  of  the  dogmas  which 
constitute  the  bulk  of  technical  church  or  state 
Christianity  ? 

The  dogmas  which  are  now  discarded  could  never 
have  found  their  way  among,  or  at  all  events  have  been 


Rise  of  Christianity  195 

accepted  by,  people  whose  civilisation  had  been  formed 
by  Greek  learning.  The  Christian  faith  is  nothing 
without  the  godhead  of  its  founder,  but  it  is  quite  certain 
that  this  would  never  have  been  incorporated  in  any 
belief  which  grew  up  upon  the  continuity  of  Alexandrian 
philosophy  and  science.  And  we  may  even  go  to  the 
length  of  saying  the  same  with  regard  to  future  reward 
and  punishment — heaven  and  hell.  The  intelligence  of 
the  ancients  would  never  have  allowed  them  to  believe 
in  such  doctrines. 

We  might  almost  say  in  proof  of  this  that  we  need 
but  remember  their  great  knowledge  of  astronomy,  their 
true  conceptions  of  the  immensity  of  the  Universe,  and 
the  multitudinous  suns  and  worlds  composing  it.  Shelley 
has  eloquently  and  truly  said  :  "  The  plurality  of  worlds 
— the  indefinite  immensity  of  the  Universe — is  a  most 
awful  subject  of  contemplation.  He  who  rightly  feels 
its  mystery  and  grandeur  is  in  no  danger  of  seductions 
from  the  falsehoods  of  religious  systems,  or  of  deifying 
the  principle  of  the  Universe.  It  is  impossible  to  believe 
that  the  Spirit  that  pervades  this  infinite  machine  begat 
a  son  upon  the  body  of  a  Jewish  woman,  or  is  angered 
at  the  consequences  of  that  necessity  which  is  a  synonym 
of  itself.  All  that  miserable  tale  of  the  Devil,  and  Eve, 
and  an  Intercessor,  with  the  childish  mummeries  of  the 
God  of  the  Jews,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  stars." 

As  to  most  of  the  minor  tenets  and  ritual  forms,  they 
are  too  childish  ever  to  have  been  seriously  considered 
by  the  intellectually  advanced  peoples  fifteen  or  sixteen 
centuries  ago.  We  do  not  mean  to  maintain  that  the 
majority  of  the  pagans  at  that  time  were  intellectually 
superior  to  accepting  the  whole  of  the  dogmas — un- 
doubtedly they  were  not ;  but  the  sages  and  the  superior 
classes  were ;  and  inasmuch  as  they  would  have  given 
the  direction  and  tone  to  the  forthcoming  civilisation  of 
Europe,  the  grosser  forms  of  Christianity  could  not  long 
have  survived,  even  if  they  ever  obtained  a  footing. 

The  decadence  of  Rome  at  this  time,  about  300  A.D., 
was  peculiar  to  that  city.  It  was  not  a  sign  of  the  times, 
except  so  far  as  the  papal  shadow  was  deepening  ;  the 


196         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

general  progress  had  not  yet  been  arrested  to  any  appreci- 
able extent.  The  enormous  wealth  of  the  ancient 
capital  had  reduced  the  population  to  two  classes  only — 
the  very  rich  and  their  retainers.  The  middle  classes 
had  entirely  disappeared,  and  with  them  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  nearly  every  form  of  industry.  It  was  no 
longer  the  home  of  genius,  virtue,  or  talent  of  any  kind  ; 
and  when  a  triumphal  arch  had  to  be  erected  for  one  of 
the  emperors,  who  took  up  a  temporary  residence  in  the 
city,  it  was  necessary  to  dismantle  the  ancient  structures 
of  their  ornaments  for  the  adornment  of  the  new  building, 
as  Rome  contained  no  sculptors  equal  to  the  occasion. 
This  great  city,  from  which  had  proceeded  for  many 
centuries  armies  that  conquered  and  laws  that  governed 
the  whole  world,  was  sunk  to  a  population  of  inebriated 
gluttons  on  the  one  side,  and  parasites  and  slaves  on  the 
other. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CONSTANTINE  THE   GREAT 

AN  event  was  now  about  to  happen  which  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  momentous  in  its  consequences  that 
has  ever  taken  place  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
from  which  Christianity  dates  its  rapid  growth  to  real 
power  and  sovereignty.  That  event  was  the  conversion 
to  Christianity  of  Constantine  the  Great.  As  to  the 
motives  which  induced  Constantine  to  embrace  the  new 
faith,  we  need  not  waste  time  in  inquiring  too  closely. 
Volumes  have  been  written  on  the  subject  to  little 
purpose,  and  without  much  edification.  But  we  may, 
having  regard  to  the  character  of  the  man,  dismiss  the 
theory  put  forth  by  Christian  writers,  that  his  conversion 
was  owing  to  his  perception  of  the  "  holy  and  sublime  " 
character  of  the  faith,  and  the  awe  with  which  it  inspired 
him. 

In  the  first  place,  the  "holy  character"  of  the 
Christian  faith  as  then  practised  was  abundantly  mani- 
fested in  Rome,  in  Alexandria,  in  Antioch,  and  in  every 
town  of  the  empire,  by  the  intolerant  attitude  of  the 
Christians  towards  the  pagans,  and  also  towards  one 
another.  He  had  many  a  time  been  an  eye-witness  of 
these  contests,  and  had  marked  the  uncompromising  and 
vigorous  spirit  with  which  the  Christians  maintained 
their  cause.  He  had  seen  how  those  Christians 
marshalled  themselves  round  their  respective  leaders, 
the  rival  bishops,  scowling  upon  one  another  like  men 
possessed  rather  of  demons  than  of  those  holy  influences 
which  were  supposed  to  have  captivated  the  pagan 
emperor.  He  was  not  likely  to  stand  in  much  awe  of 
anything  which  Christianity  had  to  present  ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  found  in  it  much  that  was  congenial  to  his 
own  nature. 

197 


198         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


And  in  the  second  place,  we  have  but  to  consider  the 
deeds  of  this  dark-souled  man  of  blood  to  convince  us 
that  he  was  quite  incapable  of  appreciating,  or  of  being 
swayed  in  his  conduct  by,  any  system  of  religion  which 
contained  a  sublime  truth  or  an  exalted  principle. 
Apart  even  from  his  savage  nature,  he  had  waded 
through  too  much  blood  and  slaughter  to  entertain  a 
very  find  perception  of  the  higher  phases  of  moral 
conduct.  The  gratitude  of  every  succeeding  generation 
of  Christians  since  his  day  has  enlisted  a  host  of  writers 
in  his  behalf;  but  the  facts  of  history  cannot  be  ex- 
punged, and  they  are  such,  with  regard  to  this  man, 
that  all  his  pious  apologists  and  defenders  cannot  white- 
wash him,  or  palliate  ever  so  slightly  the  dreadful  crimes 
of  which  he  stands  convicted. 

The  wife  to  whom  he  had  been  allied  for  twenty  years, 
and  who  was  the  mother  of  his  three  sons,  he  foully 
murdered  in  the  private  apartments  of  his  palace.  This 
deed  alone,  were  there  no  others  proved  against  him, 
would  be  sufficient  to  place  him  beyond  the  pale  of 
humanity  ;  but  it  was  only  one  of  a  series  of  monstrous 
crimes  which  contemporary  history  lays  upon  the  soul 
of  this  great  Christian  hero.  He  ordered  the  murder  of 
his  own  son,  Crispus — the  unfortunate  child  of  the  un- 
happy wife  ;  and  Licinius,  his  nephew,  met  the  same 
fate,  in  spite  of  the  heartrending  supplications  of  his 
mother,  who  was  Constantine's  sister.  He  had  his 
father-in-law,  the  Emperor  Maximian,  who  in  past  days 
had  been  his  father's  benefactor,  put  to  death.  His 
royal  captives,  the  princes  of  the  Franks,  he  had  torn 
limb  from  limb  by  wild  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  at 
Treves.  He  executed  the  two  sons  of  the  Emperor 
Maxentius,  together  with  every  living  soul  of  his  race. 
Great  numbers  of  his  personal  friends  were  executed 
with  his  son  and  nephew.  The  son  wras  guilty  of  no 
crime,  and  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  prove  him 
guilty  of  any.  Informers  were  invited  to  come  forward 
and  pour  their  accusations  against  the  son  into  the  ears 
of  the  father;  and,  of  course,  enough  were  ready  to  hand. 

Such  was  the  character  of  Constantine,  the  first 
Christian    emperor,  whom    the    Christians   have   styled 


Constantine  the  Great  199 


"  the  Great."  He  was  an  unlettered  soldier,  but  possessed 
undaunted  courage,  quick  apprehension,  and  a  power- 
ful, comprehensive  mind.  His  was  a  heart  that  knew 
neither  fear  nor  love,  and  was  more  akin  to  that  of  the 
savage  beast  than  to  man's.  If,  then,  a  motive  be  sought 
for  in  such  a  monster's  qhange  of  religion,  it  will  surely 
be  no  compliment  to  the  creed  of  his  choice  to  attribute 
his  conversion  to  his  perception  of  the  affinity  of  his 
character  with  the  spirit  of  his  adopted  faith. 

It  is  very  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  was  conscious 
of  the  decay  of  paganism,  and  knew  that,  for  the  purposes 
of  using  it  as  a  binding  element  in  the  Roman  empire, 
its  vitality  had  departed.  He  had  become  master  of  the 
world,  and  recognised,  with  his  quick  intelligence  and 
profound  political  insight,  as  well  as  from  past  personal 
experience,  the  impossibility  of  long  holding  together 
under  his  sole  sovereign  control  so  heterogeneous  a  mass 
as  the  Roman  world  by  the  power  of  the  sword  alone. 
He  knew  that  the  Christians  were  getting  numerous,  and 
were  spread  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  empire ;  and 
although  they  incessantly  wrangled  amongst  themselves, 
it  would  be  a  comparatively  easy  matter  for  the  head  of 
the  empire  to  reconcile  their  dissensions,  create  a  bond 
of  real  fellowship  between  the  jarring  sects,  and  probably 
within  a  very  short  time  bring  over,  by  fair  means  or  by 
foul,  the  majority  of  the  Roman  world  to  the  Christian 
fold. 

One  god,  one  creed,  would  do  more  towards  establishing 
on  a  firm,  permanent  basis  one  emperor  than  many 
legions  could  effect ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
a  wily,  unscrupulous  man  like  Constantine  would  not 
fail  to  see  this,  and  act  accordingly.  And  may  it  not  be 
said  that  his  success  justified  the  sagacity  of  his  choice?  - 
As  to  his  pretence  of  having  seen  a  shining  cross  in  the 
heavens,  with  the  inscription,  "  By  this,  conquer,"  and 
his  assertion  that  when  he  fell  asleep  Jesus  appeared  to 
him,  and  directed  him  to  make  a  banner  of  the  sign,  and 
go  forth  and  conquer,  with  the  cross  carried  at  the  head 
of  his  armies,  the  tale  may  be  dismissed  as  the 
deliberate  fabrication  of  an  unscrupulous  man,  and  it 
has  long  been  regarded  as  such. 


200         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


Probably  many  considerations  combined  to  induce 
Constantine  to  remove  his  capital  from  Rome  to 
Byzantium.  In  Rome,  owing  to  his  detestable  crimes, 
he  had  become  hateful  even  to  the  Roman  people  ;  and 
a  pasquinade  having  been  affixed  to  the  palace  gates,  he 
was  on  the  point  of  taking  revenge  for  the  insult  by  a 
general  massacre  of  the  people ;  but  his  brother,  whom 
he  consulted,  it  is  said,  advised  him  to  degrade  the  city 
by  creating  another  metropolis  elsewhere.  Byzantium 
was  fixed  upon  for  the  new  capital,  and  was  named 
Constantinople,  after  its  founder.  His  reasons,  whatever 
they  were,  are  not  of  importance  to  us ;  but  he 
probably  knew  that  Rome  was  no  longer  fit  to  be  the 
capital  of  his  vast  dominions.  Her  degraded  condition 
was  past  redemption ;  and  Constantine  was,  no  doubt, 
fully  aware  of  this. 

Gibbon  tells  us  that  in  building  the  new  capital  the 
cities  of  Greece  and  Asia  were  despoiled  of  their  most 
valuable  ornaments.  Rome,  Sicily,  Antioch,  Athens, 
and  many  other  cities  were  laid  under  contribution  for 
the  embellishment  of  Constantinople.  The  historian 
laments  the  necessity  for  this,  in  the  extinction  of  the 
genius  of  Phidias  and  Lysippus  ;  but  such  great  masters 
are  not  to  be  found  in  every  age,  however  eminent  for 
genius  in  other  walks  of  life  ;  and  the  impatient  emperor, 
who  detested  Rome,  and  was  anxious  to  shake  her  dust 
from  his  feet,  would  not  be  likely  to  hesitate  about 
appropriating  the  masterpieces  of  art,  wherever  they 
were  to  be  found,  in  preference  to  the  more  slow  and 
costly  process  of  creating  more,  even  if  such  creations 
were  still  possible. 

On  the  remark  of  the  historian  Cedrenus  that  nothing 
seemed  wanting  except  the  souls  of  the  illustrious  men, 
whom  those  admirable  monuments  were  intended  to 
represent,  Gibbon  says  :  "  But  it  is  not  in  the  city  of 
Constantinople,  nor  in  the  declining  period  of  an  empire, 
when  the  human  mind  is  depressed  by  civil  and  religious 
slavery,  that  we  should  seek  for  the  souls  of  Homer  and 
Demosthenes."  The  religious  cloud,  even  before  the 
days  of  Constantine,  had  begun  to  oppress  the  mind  ; 
combined  with  his  tyranny,  it  now  became  a  formidable 


Constantine  the  Great  201 


foe  to  liberty  and  progress.  The  doctrine  of  eternal 
torments  denounced  against  all  unbelievers  resounded 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  was 
not,  as  we  know  from  experience  of  later  years,  without 
its  due  effect 

But  it  is  distinctly  and  emphatically  with  the  reign  of 
Constantine  that  the  dark  ages  begin.  Draper  says  : 
"  To  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Great  must  be  referred 
the  commencement  of  those  dark  and  dismal  times 
which  oppressed  Europe  for  a  thousand  years."  The 
Christian  Church  is  now  and  henceforth  a  power  in  the 
land,  not  in  virtue  of  her  holy  character,  or  of  the 
omnipotence  of  her  founder,  but  through  her  alliance 
with  the  civil  power,  which  placed  at  her  disposal  the 
persuasive  influence  of  the  authority  and  wealth  of  the 
master  of  the  world. 

The  sword  of  Constantine  did  in  a  few  years  what 
the  cross  of  the  young  Jew  carpenter  could  never  have 
effected,  notwithstanding  the  contagion  of  enthusiasm 
and  religious  superstition,  gathering  strength  in  a 
geometrical  ratio  from  age  to  age.  The  acts  of  the 
emperor  showed  at  once  the  state  of  his  mind  on  the 
subject  of  religion.  He  did  not  blindly  or  injudiciously 
fall  into  the  arms  of  the  Church,  and  accede  to  all  her 
clamorous  demands.  Had  he  been  a  much  weaker  man, 
he  would  have  deluged  every  town  of  the  empire  with 
the  blood  of  his  heathen  subjects,  by  acceding  to  the 
importunities  with  which  he  was  beset  on  all  sides. 
Instead  of  this,  he  proceeded  cautiously  ;  and  while  he 
rewarded  the  Christians,  he  steadily  refused,  for  the 
present,  to  commit  those  wanton  acts  of  outrage  on  the 
pagans  to  which  he  was  incessantly  incited. 

Constantine  had  none  of  the  bigoted  zeal  of  the 
Christians,  and  all  his  actions  go  to  prove  that  he  was 
a  Christian  through  policy  rather  than  conviction.  That 
policy  was  in  unison  with  the  spread  of  the  religion  of 
his  adoption,  and  he  soon  began  to  exercise  the  same 
sagacity  for  the  conversion  of  his  empire  that  he  had 
previously  manifested  in  winning  it  from  his  rivals.  He 
took  upon  himself  the  office  of  advising,  in  the  disputes 
that  convulsed  the  Christian  sects,  about  the  nature  of 


202         Evolution ,  aud  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  relationship  of  the  three  gods  composing  the  Trinity. 
And  he  did  not  hesitate  to  decide  with  the  stronger,  and 
denounced,  in  no  measured  terms,  the  heresies  of  the 
weaker.  Court  females  have  in  most  ages  been  an 
insidious  power  in  Church  diplomacy,  and  through  their 
intercession  Constantine  was  induced  to  recall  the 
Donatists  from  banishment,  and  Arius  he  denounced  as 
"  the  very  image  of  the  devil."  He  was  an  apt  pupil, 
and  soon  learnt  from  the  instructions  of  his  bishops  the 
choicest  language  of  Christian  denunciation. 

He  exempted  the  clergy  from  civil  offices ;  gave  to 
the  bishops  immense  sums  of  money  for  the  restoration 
of  churches  ;  made  the  imperial  treasury  reimburse  the 
clergy  for  many  of  their  losses  ;  supplied  money  from 
the  same  source  for  building  new  churches  ;  forbade  any 
Jew  to  possess  a  Christian  slave  ;  enforced  the  decrees  of 
Church  Councils  by  means  of  the  power  of  the  State;  forbade 
all  schism  in  the  Church,  constituting  himself  the  judge, 
under  the  guidance  of  those  ecclesiastics  who  happened 
on  the  occasion  to  be  in  his  confidence  and  friendship. 
In  all  these  matters,  and  a  thousand  others  besides,  he 
was  guided  by  policy  chiefly.  The  great  Trinitarian 
controversy  which  raged  at  Alexandria  in  his  time 
occupied  a  good  deal  of  his  attention,  and  in  consequence 
the  disputes  spread  among  all  classes.  The  glorious 
seat  of  philosophy  and  science  was  fast  becoming  a  bear 
garden  of  wrangling  ecclesiastics,  fighting  over  such 
questions  as  to  whether  the  son  was  equal  to  the  father, 
whether  he  existed  before  he  was  begot,  whether  he  was 
the  father  of  himself,  the  son  of  himself,  or  both  in  one. 

That  such  disputes  should  ever  occupy  the  serious 
attention  of  sane  men  is  hard  to  account  for  ;  but  that 
they  should  have  found  a  home  in  Alexandria  is  the 
most  significant  illustration  of  the  intellectual  degrada- 
tion of  that  once  famous  seat  of  learning.  It  is  true  that 
the  Museum  had  as  yet  but  heard  the  faint  echoes  of  the 
wrangling  that  disgraced  the  city  ;  but  it  could  not  long 
maintain  its  high  intellectual  character  amid  such  sur- 
roundings, and  gradually  it  became  infected,  more  or 
less,  with  the  heated  controversies  which  were  everywhere 
going  on. 


Constantine  the  Great  203 


The  intellectual  classes  have  been  blamed  for  not 
taking  the  lead  at  this  period,  and  directing  the  mind 
into  higher  and  healthier  channels  ;  but  the  blame  is 
unjust  and  unreasonable.  The  number  and  power  of 
the  disputants  carried  all  before  them,  and  they  were, 
moreover,  quite  incapable,  from  passion  and  want  of 
intelligence,  of  listening  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  sober 
argument.  How  was  it  possible  for  science  and  philo- 
sophy to  make  any  impression  upon-men  who  were  ready 
to  shed  their  blood  in  defence  of  doctrines  which  were  a 
direct  contradiction  of  one  another  ;  and  in  the  advocacy 
of  which  they  made  a  boast  of  outraging  human  reason, 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  mysteries  which  only  God 
could  understand  ;  and  that  he  had  purposely  given 
them  to  man  to  try  his  faith,  and  thereby  his  fitness  for 
heaven  or  for  hell  ? 

Respecting  those  interminable  disputes  on  every  con- 
ceivable point  of  doctrine  countless  volumes  have  been 
written  ;  and  in  the  Church  libraries  throughout  Europe 
the  ponderous  tomes  fill  no  inconsiderable  space,  where 
they  repose  in  dust  and  undisturbed  solitude. 

On  Constantine,  who  was  dyed  with  every  crime,  the 
bishops  conferred  the  title  of  god,  which,  together  with 
a  monogram  of  Christ,  was  impressed  on  a  medal  struck 
for  the  purpose.  The  sun,  the  Saviour,  and  the  emperor 
were  mingled  together  as  a  sort  of  Trinity,  and  adorned 
one  of  the  highest  columns  in  Constantinople.  Between 
Constantine  and  the  Christians  there  was  a  bond  of 
sympathy.  They  were  powerful  enough  at  the  time  of 
his  accession  to  have  kept  the  purple  from  him  ;  they 
used  their  great  political  influence  in  his  favour;  and 
gratitude,  as  well  as  policy,  led  him  to  favour  them  at 
the  expense  of  the  pagans  on  every  occasion,  as  far  as 
prudence  permitted.  But  he  was  not  a  Christian  at 
heart  any  more  than  he  was  a  pagan,  and  he  often 
gave  offence  to  the  former  by  the  slight  concessions — 
mostly  of  a  negative  character — which  he  made  to  the 
latter. 

The  word  "heresy"  in  those  days,  and  for  many 
centuries  subsequently,  became  a  term  of  frightful  and 
appalling  import.      It  embraced  a  catalogue  of  almost 


204        Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


every  known  crime,  and  exceeded  them  all  in  the  intensity 
of  its  heart-crushing,  soul-subduing  influence.  Between 
the  contending  parties  it  was  freely  bandied  from  one  to 
another,  and  was  at  all  times  a  signal  for  strife  and 
bloodshed,  until  the  papal  power  had  subdued  all  rivals, 
and  tumult  and  passions  were  hushed  in  the  presence  of 
the  black  accusers  who  did  the  work  of  the  Inquisition  ; 
when  to  lay  an  information  of  heresy  against  man  or 
woman  was  equivalent  to  a  sentence  of  death,  preceded 
by  the  most  excruciating  tortures.  Constantine  had  all 
his  work  cut  out  to  hold  the  balance  evenly  between  the 
different  parties.  He  and  others  endeavoured  to  pacify 
them  by  the  Councils  which  were  held  from  time  to 
time  at  Nicea,  Rome,  Aries,  Milan,  etc.  ;  but  such  was 
the  fierce  character  of  the  superstitious  sects  that  the 
slightest  concession  made  to  one  party  was  sure  to 
provoke  jealousy  and  enmity  in  another. 

The  Donatists,  who  thought  that  their  rivals  obtained 
more  of  the  ecclesiastical  spoils  than  fell  to  their  share, 
fiercely  demanded  of  the  emperor  what  right  he  had  to 
meddle  with  the  Church,  and  pronounced  eternal  dam- 
nation against  all  who  denied  the  right  of  Donatus  to  be 
bishop  of  Carthage.  In  those  early  days  their  uncon- 
trollable zeal  foreshadowed  the  approach  of  that  absolute 
supremacy  which  brought  kings  and  emperors  to  their 
knees  before  the  chair  of  St.  Peter.  They  denied  the 
right  of  the  emperors  to  interfere  in  Church  matters,  and 
they  censured  the  rival  bishop  for  holding  communication 
with  the  Court. 

"  Already  the  Catholic  party,  in  preparation  of  its 
commencing  atrocities,  ominously  inquired,  '  Is  the 
vengeance  of  God  to  be  defrauded  of  its  victims?"'1 
It  was  in  this  reign  that  the  Church  obtained  the  right 
to  receive  bequests  in  land,  and  this  proved  to  be  one 
of  her  most  powerful  possessions.  The  gentle  per- 
suasions of  the  power  which  claimed  to  hold  the  keys  of 
heaven  and  hell  soon  had  the  effect  of  diverting  many 
a  rich  estate  from  the  lawful  heirs  to  the  Church 
Corporation  ;  and  in  time  the  wealth  of  the  world  again 
poured    into    Rome  as  in  days  of  old,   producing  also 

1  "The  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  vol.  i.,  p.  282. 


Constantine  the  Great  205 


the  same  results  as  of  old.  But  a  mightier  rule 
had  taken  possession  of  the  Eternal  City  than  ever 
reigned  in  Rome  in  the  most  powerful  days  of  the 
empire  ;  and,  in  consequence,  a  deeper  degree  of  infamy 
was  reached  under  the  reign  of  the  popes  than  under 
that  of  any  of  the  emperors.  The  Protestant  writers 
delight  in  attributing  the  unspeakably  infamous  lives  of 
the  Roman  pontiffs  and  the  high  ecclesiastics  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to  the  influence  of  degrading  doctrines. 
But  with  the  same  opportunities,  would  the  Protestants, 
or  any  other  order  of  men,  have  been  much  better? 
It  was  not  religion  that  demoralised  them,  but  unbounded 
wealth  and  irresponsible  power — the  destroyers  of  human 
virtue  in  all  except  the  god-like  few  who  appear  at  long 
intervals  to  guide  the  destinies  of  man. 

It  was  customary  for  the  different  sects  to  assume 
that  they  were  under  the  special  protection  of  God; 
and  they,  in  consequence,  styled  themselves  God's  elect. 
We  are  not  told  in  history  the  means  by  which  their 
deity  communicated  to  them  the  knowledge  of  his 
especial  favour,  as  we  are  in  regard  to  other  portions  of 
the  Christian  religion.  But  the  precise  manner  in  which 
they  particularise  the  minutest  points  of  doctrine,  and 
their  unhesitating  faith  in  the  accuracy  of  the  details, 
lead  us  to  infer  that  they  were  under  the  impression 
that  they  had  been  the  recipients  of  divine  inspiration  in 
those  matters. 

The  origin  of  the  famous  Trinitarian  disputes  was  a 
quarrel  between  Alexander  and  Arius,  two  ecclesiastics 
who  both  coveted  the  bishopric  of  Alexandria.  Arius 
numbered  amongst  his  followers  seven  hundred  virgins, 
while  Alexander  was  also  supported  with  a  goodly 
number.  The  impious  and  gay  Alexandrians  carica- 
tured the  two  holy  leaders  and  their  parties  on  the 
comic  stage,  and  the  city  soon  assumed  a  lively  aspect. 
The  points  in  dispute  between  those  two  churchmen 
had  reference  to  the  nature  of  the  relationship  between 
God,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Arius  maintained  that  in  the  nature  of  things  the 
father  must  be  older  than  the  son.  Alexander  and  his 
followers  looked  upon  this  as  degrading  the  son   from 


206         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

his  godhead,  and  they  denounced  Arius  and  his 
party  as  impious  blasphemers,  for  whom  hell  itself  was 
too  good.  The  son,  they  agreed,  was  begotten  by  the 
father  and  the  other  god,  the  Holy  Ghost;  but  they  also 
asserted  that  he  existed  before  he  was  begotten,  and 
that  he  was  made  out  of  nothing,  and  yet  that  he  was 
not  made  at  all. 

The  Trinitarian  disputes  in  Alexandria  were  a  per- 
petual subject  of  amusement  to  the  Jews  and  pagans, 
whose  mocking  derision  did  not  tend  to  calm  the  passions 
of  the  Christians.  To  settle  the  controversy,  Constan- 
tine  summoned  a  Council  at  Nicea,  which  has  since 
played  so  great  a  part  in  Church  history.  The  result  of 
this  Council  was  the  production  of  the  famous  Nicene 
Creed,  in  which  was  embodied  the  wisdom  of  the 
Church.     The  last  clause  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  The  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  anathema- 
tises those  who  say  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son 
of  God  was  not ;  and  that  before  he  was  begotten  he 
was  not,  and  that  he  was  made  out  of  nothing,  or 
out  of  another  substance  or  essence,  and  is  created,  or 
changeable,  or  alterable." 

The  passions  that  were  engendered  by  this  memor- 
able quarrel  did  not  cease  until  they  were  quenched  in 
blood  by  the  stern  Saracens,  who  conquered  Egypt  some 
three  centuries  after  its  outbreak,  and  silenced  for  ever 
the  voice  of  Christian  contention  in  that  ancient  land. 
It  is  said  that  there  was  not  a  Christian  man  or  woman 
in  all  Egypt  who  did  not  proceed  to  settle  the  nature  of 
the  unity  of  God. 

It  was  the  desire  of  Constantine  to  make  religion  a 
branch  of  politics,  so  that  he  could  use  the  power  of  the 
Church  for  political  purposes  ;  and  while  he  lived, 
ecclesiastical  authority  was  kept  in  due  subordination  to 
the  power  of  the  State.  But  shortly  after  his  death  the 
Church  became  sufficiently  strong  to  throw  off  all 
restraint,  and  to  assert  her  entire  independence  of  any 
earthly  power. 

Athanasius,  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  in  the  time  of 
Constantine,  opposed  the  emperor,  and  became  his  per- 
sonal antagonist  in  the  Arian  heresy.     Constantius,  like 


Constantine  the  Great  207 


his  father,  pretended  to  have  had  a  vision,  and  laid  claim 
to  divine  inspiration  ;  but  as  the  divine  revelation  did 
not  happen  to  accord  with  the  views  of  the  dominant 
party,  it  was  rejected  by  them.  In  the  contest  which 
now  ensued  between  the  Church  and  the  State, 
Athanasius  went  to  Rome,  and  laid  his  case  before  the 
bishop  there.  This  is  important,  as  being  the  first  act 
on  the  part  of  the  Alexandrian  bishop  implying,  in 
some  measure,  his  subordination  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome. 

The  Christian  Church  began  now  to  repudiate  her 
subjection  to  the  laws  of  the  empire,  asserting  that  she 
was  responsible  only  to  God  ;  and  that  as  her  bishops 
held  the  keys  of  heaven  and  eternal  life,  they  were 
superior  to  any  earthly  potentate,  whose  power  could 
only  be  exerted  over  the  body.  The  emperor  might 
kill  the  corporeal  part  of  man,  but  that  was  of  no  con- 
sequence in  comparison  with  the  eternal  torments  of  the 
indestructible  soul.  Here  was  a  power  greater  than  that 
of  all  the  legions  in  the  world. 

If  a  man  comes  to  believe  literally  in  heaven  and  hell, 
and  persuades  himself  that  a  fellow-mortal  has  the 
power  to  send  him  to  either  place,  no  earthly  considera- 
tions will  weigh  with  him  against  the  wishes  of  such  a 
master.  That  the  Christians  implicitly  believed  that 
their  bishops  possessed  this  power,  and  that  heaven  was 
their  destined  portion  hereafter,  is  amply  proved  by  the 
unflinching,  not  to  say  cheerful,  manner  in  which  many 
of  them  met  torture  and  death.  They  were  in  turn  the 
oppressors  and  the  oppressed,  and  themselves  suffered 
the  agonies  that  they  inflicted  upon  others. 

Constantine  had  been  playing  with  Christianity  during 
the  whole  of  his  reign  ;  but  as  he  was  approaching  his 
end  he  prepared  for  baptism,  "  in  the  hope  that  the  sins 
of  a  long  and  evil  life  might  be  washed  away."  He  had 
consolidated  the  power  of  the  Church,  and  converted  it 
from  a  more  or  less  heterogeneous  mass  into  an  organised 
body.  And  though  the  rivalry  between  the  bishops  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time  after  his  death,  supremacy  set 
steadily  towards  Rome.  He  had  succeeded  in  his  object 
of  making  the  Christian  religion,  or  rather  the  Church, 


208         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  great  object  of  men's  ambition.  The  ecclesiastical 
appointments  became  as  much  sought  after  as  the  high 
military  positions  had  been  a  few  years  previously. 
Many  of  the  emperor's  personal  friends  were  church- 
men ;  they  filled  the  Court,  kept  up  large  establishments 
themselves,  were  honoured  guests  in  patrician  and 
wealthy  families,  and  throughout  the  social  grades  were 
looked  upon  as  men  of  authority  and  position. 

Gradually  the  great  overshadowing  power  of  the 
Church  subdued  and  absorbed  the  intellectual  activity 
of  the  empire ;  and  little  by  little  the  aspirations  for 
knowledge  gave  way  to  the  encroaching  religion,  backed 
by  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  State.  The  Christian's 
knowledge  was  in  his  Bible ;  henceforth  that  was  to  be 
the  criterion  of  truth,  as  interpreted  from  time  to  time  by 
those  who  happened  to  be  in  authority.  And  the  time 
soon  came  when  it  was  death  to  a  person  to  be  found  in 
possession  of  any  book  or  writing  of  any  description 
whatsoever  which  contradicted,  or  seemed  in  the  eye 
of  the  Church  to  contradict,  a  single  word  of  the 
Scriptures. 


CHAPTER  XV 

FROM    CONSTANTINE   TO   THE   CRUSADES 

The  removal  of  the  capital  to  Constantinople  was  the 
indirect  cause  of  the  ultimate  supremacy  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome.  While  the  emperor  and  his  court  resided  in 
the  city,  the  bishop  could  not  be  otherwise  than  a  subor- 
dinate personage ;  and  all  his  actions  were  under  the 
jealous  eyes  of  the  emperor  and  those  of  the  great  men 
who  surrounded  him.  With  the  Court  and  all  its  prestige 
at  Constantinople,  the  bishop  had  a  free  hand  ;  and  as 
events  showed,  he  made  the  most  of  it.  It  is  beside  our 
purpose  to  enter  into  the  fights  that  disturbed  the  peace 
of  Rome  for  a  long  time — they  would  fill  volumes.  The 
following,  from  Riddle's  "  History  of  the  Papacy,"  may 
be  taken  as  a  fair  sample.  It  occurred  on  the  occasion 
of  the  assumption  of  the  title  of  Pontiff  by  St.  Damasus, 
who  was  opposed  by  Ursinus  (366-384)  : 

"  After  some  deadly  conflicts  between  the  followers  of 
the  two  rivals,  Ursinus  was  banished  from  the  city  ;  and 
a  similar  sentence  was  about  to  be  carried  into  effect 
against  seven  presbyters  of  his  party  when  the  people 
interfered,  and  lodged  them  for  safety  in  one  of  the 
churches.  But  even  here  they  found  no  shelter  from  the 
fury  of  their  opponents.  Armed  with  fire  and  sword, 
Damasus,  with  some  of  his  adherents,  both  of  the  clergy 
and  of  the  laity,  proceeded  to  the  place  of  refuge,  and 
left  no  less  than  a  hundred  and  sixty  of  their  adversaries 
dead  within  the  sacred  precincts." 

We  can  readily  understand  the  effect  which  such  a 
state  of  perpetual  -tumult,  contention,  and  bloodshed 
(which  was  almost  the  normal  condition  of  the  chief 
towns  of  Christendom  at  this  and  subsequent  periods) 
would  be  likely — nay,  would  be  certain — to  have  upon 
progress  and  civilisation,  upon  the  study  and  cultivation 

209  o 


2io         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

of  the  arts  and  sciences  of  life.  The  social  atmosphere 
of  a  community  is  determined  by  the  prevailing  influences 
in  that  community.  If  peace  and  quiet  reign,  the  mind 
will  be  predisposed  to  reflection  and  study,  and  vice  versa. 
No  community  could  receive,  enlarge,  and  transmit  the 
accumulations  of  preceding  ages  under  such  social  con- 
ditions as  those  which  were  brought  about  by  the  in- 
cessant unrest  and  aggressive  proceedings  of  the  powerful, 
dominant  organisations  which  filled  every  town  and 
village  that  was  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  emperor. 

Such  a  state  of  social  turmoil  would  not  only  render 
the  fruits  of  past  labour  barren  and  useless,  but  it  would 
inevitably  sap  the  intellectual  energies,  and  bring  about 
a  condition  of  universal  deterioration.  The  intellectual 
collapse  which  overtook  Christendom  under  papal 
domination  would  still  have  been  accomplished,  without 
the  aid  even  of  the  rack,  thumbscrew,  and  stake  ;  though 
perhaps  it  might  not  have  been  so  complete.  There 
was  no  contending  against  the  weapons  of  torture  and 
death  which  the  Church  used  so  mercilessly.  Against 
the  former  influence  only,  possibly  early  civilisation 
might  have  survived  to  some  extent,  and  impressed  itself 
upon  the  rising  nations  of  Europe. 

It  may  appear  to  some  readers  that  we  have  too 
deeply  coloured  the  contentious  attitude  of  the  early 
Christians,  bearing  in  mind  their  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience.  To  those  wTho  believe  in  their  peaceful,  in- 
offensive, meek,  and  lowly  conduct  in  the  third  century, 
we  would  recommend  the  consideration  of  some  of  the 
clauses  of  their  creed,  as  established  by  the  first  great 
Council,  held  in  325  A.D.  Three  hundred  bishops  as- 
sembled at  this  Council,  and  before  it  broke  up  they 
unanimously  decreed  the  penalty  of  death  for  heresy  ;  and 
when  Constantine  ratified  the  Nicene  Creed  he  issued 
an  edict  in  which  this  sentence  appears  : 

"  This  also  1  enjoin,  that  if  anyone  shall  be  found  to 
have  concealed  any  writing  composed  by  Arius,  and 
shall  not  immediately  bring  it  and  consume  it  in  the  fire, 
death  shall  be  his  punishment :  for  as  soon  as  ever  he  is 
taken  in  this  crime  he  shall  suffer  capital  punishment." 

So  that  at  this  early  period  it  was  not  only  death  to 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  21 1 

believe  otherwise  than  as  they  were  directed  by  the 
Church,  but  for  concealing  the  writings  even  of  a  so- 
called  heretic  capital  punishment  was  the  penalty.  And 
when  it  is  considered  that  this  same  heretic  was  recalled 
into  favour  some  ten  years  after  his  banishment,  we  are 
at  liberty  to  form  our  own  opinion  as  to  the  divine 
character  of  the  creed,  for  non-compliance  with  which  a 
person  was  executed. 

In  the  third  reign  after  Constantine  the  Great,  Julian 
occupied  the  throne.  It  was  in  his  reign  that  St.  George, 
the  patron  saint  of  England,  lived.  Emerson,  in  his 
"  English  Traits,"  says  :  "  George  of  Cappadocia,  born 
at  Epiphania,  in  Cilicia,  was  a  low  parasite,  who  got  a 
lucrative  contract  to  supply  the  army  with  bacon.  A 
rogue  and  informer,  he  got  rich,  and  was  forced  to  run 
from  justice.  He  saved  his  money,  embraced  Arianism, 
collected  a  library,  and  got  promoted  by  a  faction  to  the 
episcopal  throne  of  Alexandria.  When  Julian  came, 
A.D.  361,  George  was  dragged  to  prison  ;  the  prison  was 
burst  open  by  the  mob,  and  George  was  lynched  as  he 
deserved.  And  this  precious  knave  became,  in  good 
time,  Saint  George  of  England,  patron  of  chivalry, 
emblem  of  victory  and  civility,  and  the  pride  of  the  best 
blood  of  the  modern  world."  Gibbon  is  equally  severe 
on  England's  darling,  St.  George. 

The  character  of  Julian  is  admitted  by  all,  even  by 
his  enemies,  to  have  been  noble,  generous,  just,  and 
elevated.  In  his  early  years,  and  while  imprisoned  by 
Constantius,  he  was  compelled  to  conform  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion  ;  but  being  a  man  of  singularly  powerful 
and  well-informed  understanding,  he  soon  revolted  against 
the  doctrines  of  his  new  religion.  He  forbade  all 
persecution,  while  trying  to  restore  the  religion  of  the 
pagans,  and  forgave  a  number  of  Christians  who  hap! 
conspired  against  his  life.  He  is  termed  by  the  Christians 
"Julian  the  Apostate";  but,  as  Dean  Milman  admits, 
he  was  no  apostate,  for  as  soon  as  he  had  attained  the 
age  of  reason  he  declared  his  disbelief  in  Christianity. 
His  only  weapons  were  logic  and  reason,  as  opposed  to 
the  Christians'  bludgeons — they  were  forbidden  to  use  the 
sword,  so  used  large  clubs  instead,  with  which  they  beat 


212         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


out  the  brains  of  one  another ;  as  in  after  years  they 
burnt  men  because  it  was  against  their  creed  to  shed 
blood. 

Julian  tried  to  stem  the  tide  of  Christian  progress ; 
but  he  might  as  well  have  tried  to  force  back  the  ad- 
vancing waves  of  the  ocean.  It  is  said  that  now  religion 
became  lost  in  theology,  and  that  theology  had  gone 
mad  ;  but  if  theology  is  not  another  name  for  religion, 
what  is  it  ?  Step  by  step  religion  had  been  evolving 
along  the  natural  lines  of  its  growth,  and  at  every  stage 
the  result  was  the  unavoidable  outcome  of  all  the  pre- 
ceding stages.  The  various  developments  of  Christianity 
at  different  periods  were  the  inevitable  consequences  of 
Christian  doctrine.  The  more  indefinite  the  foundation  of 
a  creed,  and  the  greater  the  call  upon  its  followers  to 
diverge  from  the  more  elementary  experiences  of  human 
life,  the  greater  will  be  the  variety  of  interpretations  over 
which  the  mind  will  range  in  its  efforts  to  formulate  that 
creed.  And  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  the  greatest  example  on  record,  both  in  regard 
to  the  extra-human  character  of  its  basis,  and  the  resultant 
variety  and  wide  range  of  interpretation  in  which  its 
followers  have  indulged  during  its  long  history.  Not 
only  were  the  hundreds  of  sects  into  which  Christianity 
was  split  up  at  the  end  of  the  third  century  inevitable, 
but  the  faggot  and  stake  in  due  time  were  bound  to 
follow  the  cross,  as  its  natural  sequence. 

A  student  of  Greek  philosophy,  the  disciple  of  Plato 
and  Aristotle,  Julian  early  recognised  the  paralysing 
influence  that  the  Christian  religion  was  exerting  over 
learning,  and  therefore  over  the  progress  and  welfare  of 
man.  Few  men  were  so  well  able  to  form  just  judg- 
ments as  he,  who  had  imbibed  in  the  schools  of  Athens 
the  spirit  of  Greek  enlightenment,  and  whose  mind  was 
informed  with  the  culture  of  that  highly  intellectual  and 
civilised  people.  The  nobility  and  greatness  of  his 
character  was  such  that  gross  impertinence  and  personal 
insult  could  not  provoke  the  master  of  the  world  to 
retaliation.  Few  instances  are  to  be  found  in  history 
of  such  forbearance  as  he  exercised  on  many  occasions. 
"  While  he  was  employed  in  sacrifice,  he  was  interrupted 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  213 


by  the  remonstrances  of  Maris,  the  Arian  bishop  of 
Chalcedon,  to  whom  age  and  blindness  had  added 
courage.  '  Peace,'  said  the  emperor,  '  blind  old  man, 
thy  Galilean  God  will  not  restore  thine  eyesight.'  '  I 
thank  my  God,'  answered  Maris,  '  for  my  blindness, 
which  spares  me  the  pain  of  beholding  an  apostate  like 
thee.'     Julian  calmly  proceeded  in  his  sacrifice."  l 

Contrast  the  conduct  of  this  pagan  emperor  with  that 
of  the  three  preceding  Christian  emperors.  What  pagan 
would  have  dared  to  intrude  upon  the  presence  of  either 
of  these  men  for  any  purpose  whatever,  let  alone  to  use 
the  language  of  personal  insult  ?  The  greatness  of  his 
conduct  is  unparalleled  almost  in  the  history  of  the 
world. 

Christian  writers  have  striven  very  hard  to  reduce  his 
great  merits,  by  attributing  to  him  a  belief  in  the  most 
miserable  of  the  pagan  superstitions ;  while  uncon- 
sciously at  times  making  admissions  here  and  there, 
which,  when  taken  together,  form  almost  a  perfect 
character.  Milman  says :  "  Julian  himself  is  perhaps 
the  best,  because  the  plainest  and  most  perspicuous, 
writer  of  his  time."  To  be  "  the  best  writer  of  his 
time  "  is  no  small  praise  to  bestow  on  any  man  ;  and  in 
itself  would  go  far  to  constitute  him,  if  not  the  greatest, 
at  least  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his  time.  And  that 
Julian  was  in  every  sense  a  great  man,  contemporary 
history  proves.  Against  the  writings  of  subsequent  ages, 
respecting  the  nature  and  tendency  of  Julian's  conduct, 
I  would  oppose  that  of  men  of  his  own  time.  The 
following,  though  somewhat  exaggerated  in  style,  is  signi- 
ficant in  many  ways:  " Thou,  then,  I  say,  O  mightiest 
Emperor,  hast  restored  to  the  public  the  expelled  and 
banished  virtues  ;  thou  hast  rekindled  the  study  of  letters  ; 
thou  hast  not  only  delivered  from  her  trial  philosophy, 
suspected  heretofore  and  deprived  of  her  honour,  and 
even  arraigned  as  a  criminal,  but  hast  clothed  her  in 
purple,  crowned  her  with  jewels,  and  seated  her  on  the 
imperial  throne.  We  may  look  on  the  heavens  and 
contemplate  the  stars  with  fearless  gaze." 

From  this  we  learn  that  the  study  of  letters,  philosophy, 

1  Milman,  "  History  of  Christianity,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  5-     Ibid->  P-  3- 


214         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


and  astronomy  had  suffered  severely  from  the  triumphs 
of  Christianity.  Writers  whose  works  live  reflect  the 
spirit  and  conditions  of  their  age  ;  and  we  know  from 
many  sources  that  the  above  quotation  only  too  truly 
signified  the  decay  of  learning  under  the  three  Christian 
emperors  who  preceded  Julian.  The  Christians  were 
extremely  illiterate,  and  hated  learning.  History  may 
be  defied  to  produce  any  instances  of  the  Christians 
manifesting,  at  this  period,  the  slightest  acquaintance 
with  learning  of  any  description  ;  while  contemporary 
works  teem  with  proofs  of  their  bitter  hostility  to 
everything  that  savoured  of  refinement  and  culture. 

The  illiterate  men  who  held  the  appointments  of 
bishops  condemned  every  kind  of  study  as  an  impious 
prying  into  the  secrets  of  God  ;  asserting  that  he  had 
given  to  man,  in  the  Bible,  all  the  knowledge  he  intended 
him  to  possess  ;  and  that  while  belief  in  the  Scriptures 
was  necessary  to  his  salvation,  all  other  kinds  of  study 
would  certainly  lead  to  his  eternal  burning  in  hell 
fire. 

Profoundly  ignorant  of  Nature  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  Universe,  they  still  believed  that  Jesus  was  a  little 
way  above  them,  and  would  shortly  fulfil  his  promise, 
and  reappear  in  all  the  majesty  and  glory  of  omnipo- 
tence, when  the  earth  would  be  dissolved,  and  the  human 
race  would  depart  a  short  distance  hence,  to  their 
respective  places  of  heaven  and  hell.  Every  Christian 
at  this,  and  at  preceding  times,  lived  in  daily  expectation 
of  the  great  consummation  ;  and  from  the  time  of  Jesus 
until  the  present  day  fanatics  have  never  ceased  to 
prophesy  the  near  approach  of  the  end  of  all  things  ;  as 
though  the  destruction  of  this  less  than  grain  of  sand 
that  we  inhabit  carried  with  it  the  annihilation  of  the 
inconceivably  stupendous  Universe,  with  its  untold 
millions  of  worlds  and  countless  myriads  of  sentient 
existences  ! 

To  them  there  was  little  Nature  to  speak  of;  every- 
thing was  so  simple  and  plain  that  there  was  nothing  to 
study.  The  Bible  contained  all  knowledge,  and  the 
fathers  of  the  Church  became  in  consequence  the  deposi- 
taries of  all    that    it    was  possible  or  lawful   to  know, 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  215 


When  one  thinks  of  such  teachings  superseding  the 
grand  and  sublime  achievements  of  Greek  intellect,  it  is 
difficult  to  write  with  that  sobriety  of  language  becoming 
the  subject  of  historical  narrative.  We  express  the 
natural  sentiments  of  indignation  at  the  destruction  of 
the  beautiful  cities  of  Greece  and  Rome  by  the  bar- 
barians ;  but  their  havoc  was  for  the  most  part  reparable 
by  industry,  and  had  comparatively  little  effect  upon 
social  progress.  The  repression  and  destruction  of  the 
fruits  of  centuries  of  intellectual  toil  is  of  far  more  serious 
consequence  to  man. 

To  so  great  and  learned  a  man  as  Julian,  the 
degeneracy  of  the  times,  and  the  contrast  between  the 
ignorance  of  the  Christians  and  the  enlightenment 
of  the  pagan  sages,  would  be  obvious  and  unmistakable. 
No  man  knew  better  than  he  the  consequences  to 
future  generations  of  universal  Christian  domination. 
The  results  were  already  but  too  plainly  visible  in 
the  dark  cloud  that  was  overshadowing  the  once  joyous 
life,  and  paralysing  intellectual  activity.  Surely  it  is 
only  a  reasonable  conclusion  to  come  to  that  such 
a  man  as  Julian  would  be  fully  conscious  of  this ;  and 
would  do  all  in  his  power  to  avert  the  awful  destiny  that 
awaited  his  country,  and  which,  in  spite  of  all  his  noble 
efforts,  was  not  even  retarded  in  its  onward  course 
to  darkness  and  stagnation. 

From  the  known  scepticism  of  the  cultured  minds  of 
the  pagans  of  those  times,  we  cannot  believe  that 
Julian's  powerful  intellect  was  infected  with  the  gross 
absurdities  of  the  popular  belief.  His  encouragement  of 
paganism  was  no  doubt  intended  as  a  counterpoise 
to  Christianity  ;  he  probably  thought  that  the  spread  of 
the  light  of  reason  and  knowledge  would  ultimately  kill 
the  superstition;  and  as  his  subjects  were  fast  out- 
growing the  old  faith,  the  reign  of  philosophy  and 
science  was  about  to  be  inaugurated  among  the  people. 
He  was  much  attached  to  the  speculations  of  Plato  and 
the  investigations  of  Aristotle,  and  it  seems  beyond 
doubt  that  he  looked  forward  to  a  time  when  the 
knowledge  of  the  Greeks  should  become  the  guiding 
influence  in  progressive  civilisation.      To  depict  such  a 


216         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

man  as  examining  the  entrails  of  a  goose  in  the  hope  of 
finding  an  infallible  guide  to  his  conduct,  or  the  means 
of  foretelling  future  events,  is  a  libel  on  his  acknowledged 
intellectual  greatness. 

What  was  the  outcome,  so  far,  of  Christianity,  and 
its  influence  upon  the  world?  Julian  reigned  two 
years  ;  and  though  he  exerted  all  the  power  of  his  great 
and  influential  position  to  stop  the  advance  of  the 
Christian  faith,  he  was  unable  to  make  any  impression 
upon  it.  He  strictly  forbade  all  persecution,  and 
worked  hard  with  tongue  and  pen  to  effect  his  purpose. 
Mr.  Robert  Buchanan  in  his  poem,  "The  Wandering 
Jew,"  makes  Julian  say  that  by  setting  his  foot  upon  the 
viper  he  could  have  crushed  the  life  out  of  it.  But  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  strongest  measures  could  at  that  time 
have  extirpated  the  rapidly  spreading  religion.  It  had 
taken  too  deep  and  widespread  a  hold  upon  the  people. 
Possibly  if  Julian's  reign  had  been  a  long  one  he  might 
have  been  more  successful,  as  he  was  gradually  obtaining 
the  co-operation  of  the  educated  classes,  and  some  of 
the  best  intellects  of  Greece. 

In  the  intellectual  strife  of  the  schools  the  question, 
What  is  truth  ?  had  long  been  debated,  but  no 
satisfactory  answer  had  been  forthcoming.  Truth  to 
the  Greek  mind  was  what  it  is  to  us  to-day — a  dream  of 
the  soul,  a  phantom  hovering  around  the  things  of 
sense  and  the  subjects  of  thought,  a  vanishing  semblance 
of  the  reality  which  we  vainly  strive  to  determine  and  fix 
in  time  and  space,  but  which  eludes  our  grasp  by 
becoming  engulfed  in  the  Infinite.  Christianity  now,  for 
the  first  time,  presented  to  the  world  a  criterion  of  truth 
which,  with  the  aid  of  the  Church,  was  intelligible  to  the 
meanest  understanding.  That  criterion  of  truth  was  the 
Bible.  And  herein  henceforth  consisted  the  power  of 
Christianity.  The  Bible  in  future  was  to  be  the  standard 
of  truth,  and  the  ultimate  appeal  on  all  questions  of 
knowledge.  Everything  which  could  not  be  justified  by 
reference  to  this  criterion  was  condemned  as  pernicious 
and  unlawful. 

A  crusade  was  begun  throughout  Christendom  against 
writings  of  every  description  ;  and  books  which  could  be 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  217 

construed  into  a  contradiction  of  any  part — even  of  a 
single  sentence — of  the  Bible  were  condemned  to  be 
burnt.  In  time  the  awful  Inquisition  was  established ; 
and  in  addition  to  the  destruction  of  books  and  manu- 
scripts which  contradicted  Holy  Writ,  every  person  in 
whose  possession  such  publications  were  found  was 
seized  by  the  officials  of  the  Inquisition,  and  subjected 
to  the  most  horrible  tortures,  frequently  resulting  in 
death.  The  victims  in  thousands,  after  having  been 
crushed  and  maimed  in  those  awful  infernal  machines, 
were  fixed  to  the  stake  and  burnt  alive,  to  the  glory  of 
the  Christians'  God. 

And  now  for  many  centuries  the  earth  indeed  became 
a  dreadful  home  for  those  who  dared  to  think  otherwise 
than  as  the  Church  dictated.  The  popes  obtained 
supreme  power  throughout  Christendom  ;  emperors  and 
kings  became  their  subjects,  and  trembled  at  the 
thunders  of  the  Church  and  the  threats  of  excommuni- 
cation. The  subjects  of  every  monarch  owed  allegiance 
first  to  the  pope,  and  dared  not  disobey  a  papal  man- 
date, even  though  it  enjoined  disloyalty  and  treason  to 
their  lawful  sovereign.  Every  monarch  held  his 
crown  by  favour  of  the  pope,  and  his  ecclesiastics 
filled  all  the  most  important  political  positions  in 
the  world.  No  man  could  call  his  soul  his  own,  and 
no  man  or  woman  was  safe  from  the  accusation  of 
heresy. 

Under  the  constant  pressure  of  terror  virtue  fled  from 
the  human  heart,  and  every  feeling  of  love  and  tender- 
ness was  crushed  and  destroyed.  Parents  informed 
against  their  children,  children  against  their  parents  ; 
and  the  holy  Church  completed  their  pious  deeds  of 
inhumanity  by  appointing  them  to  assist  at  the  torture 
and  burning  of  one  another.  We  need  not  dwell  upon 
the  well-known  and  awful  deeds  of  the  Church  during 
the  Middle  Ages.  No  purpose  would  be  served  ;  and  the 
feelings  are  shocked  almost  beyond  endurance  at  the  bare 
recital  of  those  deeds. 

The  terror  of  the  Church  became  so  great  that  people 
were  careful  to  scrutinise  every  book  in  their  possession, 
to  see  that  it  did  not  contain  anything  which  contra- 


21 8         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

dieted  the  Scriptures ;  and  great  numbers  burnt  their 
libraries  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  harbouring,  however 
innocently,  "heretical  "  writings.  Under  such  a  wide- 
spread, vigilant,  and  destructive  influence,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  learning  died  out,  and  civilisation  decayed.  To 
have  arrested  such  a  natural  and  inevitable  backward 
course  would  have  required  a  series  of  miracles  which 
would  have  thrown  into  the  shade  even  those  related  of 
Christianity  itself.  Keen  supervision  was  exercised  over 
all  the  schools  of  Europe,  and  great  care  was  taken  to 
crush  the  aspiring  intellect,  or  to  utilise  it,  wherever 
found,  in  the  interests  of  the  Church.  Occasionally  a 
monk  might  be  found  in  his  solitary  cell  poring  over  a 
cherished  volume  of  one  of  the  ancients.  The  human 
intellect  can  never  be  entirely  crushed  ;  here  and  there  it 
will  shine  forth  even  in  the  darkest  ages,  and  brave  all 
dangers  and  persecutions.  Every  age  has  its  Brunos, 
who  can  calmly  walk  to  the  stake,  and  vindicate  by  their 
heroic  death  the  inherent  grandeur  and  irrepressible 
character  of  the  human  mind. 

It  is  quite  common  to  read  in  our  histories  that  during 
the  Middle  Ages  the  lamp  of  learning  was  kept  alight  by 
the  Church ;  and  we  are  gravely  told  that,  had  it  not 
been  for  a  few  ecclesiastics  and  solitary  monks,  all 
learning  would  have  died  out  in  Europe.  We  must 
presume  that  those  historians  were  unaware  of  the  fact 
that  the  suppression  of  all  learning,  in  the  first  instance, 
was  due  to  the  religious  power,  of  which  these  solitary 
students  formed  a  part,  and  that  the  same  power  was 
answerable  for  the  continuation  of  the  darkness.  To 
credit  the  Church  with  having  prevented  the  entire  sub- 
mersion of  civilisation,  by  having  kept  alive  a  ray  of 
light  and  learning  here  and  there,  is  perhaps  the  most 
ironical  compliment  that  history  ever  paid  to  any 
institution.  "  The  Church  had  cursed  the  human 
intellect  by  cursing  the  doubts  that  are  necessary 
consequences  of  its  exercise.  She  had  cursed  even 
the  moral  faculty  by  asserting  the  guilt  of  honest 
error."  1 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  Theodosius  the 
1  Lecky,  "  Rationalism  in  Europe,"  vol.  i.,p.  49. 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  219 

Great  established  Inquisitors  of  Faith,  and  certain  laws 
were  passed  whereby  the  performance  of  specified  pagan 
rites  subjected  the  pagans  to  the  penalty  of  death. 
"  Those  who  presumed  to  celebrate  Easter  on  the  same 
day  as  the  Jews  he  condemned  to  death.  The  Greek 
language  was  now  ceasing  to  be  known  in  the  West,  and 
true  learning  was  becoming  extinct."  1  Referring  to 
this  period,  Gibbon  says  :  "  The  conflict  and  fermenta- 
tion of  so  many  opposite  interests  and  tempers  inflamed 
the  passions  of  the  bishops  :  and  the  ruling  passions  were 
the  love  of  gold  and  the  love  of  dispute."  2  The 
Catholics,  as  the  orthodox  party  was  called,  were  now 
quite  strong  enough  to  defy  the  powers  of  the  State,  and 
they  assumed  the  control  of  temporal  as  well  as  of 
spiritual  matters.  The  Catholic  Church  was  now  practi- 
cally the  supreme  power  in  the  world,  and  the  emperors 
were  little  better  than  her  servants.  The  sword  and 
wealth  of  the  State  were  at  her  disposal,  and  she  used 
both  without  stint  or  mercy. 

Early  in  the  fifth  century  the  famous  and  beautiful 
Hypatia,  daughter  of  Theon,  the  mathematician,  lectured 
in  Alexandria  on  the  abstruse  subjects  of  Greek  philo- 
sophy. She  was  in  every  way  a  most  admirable 
woman,  and  possessed  of  the  virtues  and  learning 
of  the  early  Greeks.  The  episcopal  throne  of  Alex- 
andria was  occupied  at  this  time  by  a  monster — 
unusually  depraved  even  for  that  depraved  age — named 
Cyril.  Among  the  many  fanatics  which  Christianity  had 
produced  must  be  named  the  monks  and  nuns  who 
overran  Egypt  at  this  period.  Alexandria  was  full  of 
them,  and  their  dark  superstitions  made  them  at  all 
times  ready  for  the  commission  of  the  worst  crimes. 
Hypatia's  learning  had  roused  the  bigotry  and  hatred  of 
Cyril,  and  by  his  instructions  a  mob  of  howling  monks 
waylaid  her.  "  On  a  fatal  day,  in  the  holy  season  of 
Lent,  Hypatia  was  torn  from  her  chariot,  stripped  naked, 
dragged  to  the  church,  and  inhumanly  butchered  by  the 
hands  of  Peter  the  Reader  and  a  troop  of  savage  and 
merciless  fanatics  ;  her  flesh  was  scraped  from  her  bones 

1  "  Conflict  between  Religion  and  Science,"  p.  54. 

2  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  523. 


220         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

with  sharp  oyster  shells,  and  the  quivering  limbs  were 
delivered  to  the  flames."1 

"  So  ended  Greek  philosophy  in  Alexandria  ;  so  came 
to  an  untimely  close  the  learning  that  the  Ptolemies  had 
done  so  much  to  promote.  The  '  Daughter  Library/ 
that  of  the  Serapion,  had  been  dispersed.  The  fate  of 
Hypatia  was  a  warning  to  all  who  would  cultivate  pro- 
fane knowledge.  Henceforth  there  was  to  be  no  freedom 
for  human  thought.  Everyone  must  think  as  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  ordered  him,  A.D.  414.  In  Athens 
itself  philosophy  awaited  its  doom.  Justinian  at  length 
prohibited  its  teaching,  and  caused  all  its  schools  in  that 
city  to  be  closed."  2 

The  learning  which  had  been  cultivated  in  Athens, 
Alexandria,  and  Rome  had  found  its  way  into  all  the 
chief  cities  of  Europe ;  and  it  would  undoubtedly  have 
grown,  and  have  guided  the  civilisation  of  the  European 
nations.  But  in  all  those  cities  the  influence  of 
Christianity  became  all-powerful ;  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
its  power  was  exerted  to  extirpate  every  kind  of  true 
learning,  and  in  its  place  the  Bible  was  substituted  as 
containing  the  sum  of  all  possible  knowledge. 

The  early  Europeans  were  endowed  with  a  fine 
physique,  with  noble  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  ;  and 
would  soon  have  imbibed  a  love  for  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  the  social  institutions  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Let 
anyone  regard  the  broad-browed,  fearless-eyed  men 
who  more  than  once  asserted  their  love  of  liberty  by 
teaching  imperial,  aggressive  Rome  a  lesson  which  she 
never  forgot ;  and  say  if  they  would  not  have  been, 
under  the  civilising  influences  of  Greek  culture,  fitting 
recipients  of  all  that  was  best  in  the  social  state  of  the 
times. 

Gibbon  bears  testimony  to  the  appreciative  intelligence 
of  the  so-called  barbarian  : 


"  Our  fancy  may  create,  or  adopt,  a  pleasing  romance  that  the 
Goths  and  Vandals  rallied  from  Scandinavia,  urgent  to  avenge  the 
flight  of  Odin,  to  break  the  chains,  and  to  chastise  the  oppressors 

!"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  341. 
2 "Conflict  between  Religion  and  Science,"  p.  55. 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  221 


of  mankind  ;  that  they  wished  to  burn  the  records  of  classic 
literature,  and  to  found  their  national  architecture  in  the  broken 
members  of  the  Tuscan  and  Corinthian  orders.  But  in  simple 
truth,  the  northern  conquerors  were  neither  sufficiently  savage  nor 
sufficiently  refined  to  entertain  such  aspiring  ideas  of  destruction 
and  revenge.  .  .  .  And  though  incapable  of  emulating,  they  were 
more  inclined  to  admire  than  to  abolish  the  arts  and  studies  of  a 
brighter  period."1 

They  were  simple-hearted  in  all  matters  appertaining 
to  religion,  and  had  no  strong  views  of  their  own  apart 
from  their  princes  and  chiefs.  To  convert  a  whole  clan, 
it  was  frequently  only  necessary  to  convert  the  head  and 
his  family  ;  the  rest  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  We 
may  believe,  for  many  reasons,  that  the  conversion  of 
whole  nations  to  Christianity  was  effected  without  the 
intervention  of  either  thought  or  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  converts.  It  would  be  an  outrage  on  the  manly 
character  of  the  northern  conquerors  to  believe  that  they 
would  seriously  embrace  any  religion  which  taught  that 
the  whole  of  their  ancestors  were  in  hell,  if  it  involved 
any  consideration  of  the  intelligence  or  searching  of  the 
heart. 

Those  men  were  rough  and  warlike,  but  they  were 
brave  and  loyal  to  one  another,  and  were  not  destitute 
of  the  generous  virtues  of  love  and  friendship.  The 
Christian  religion  enjoined  upon  them  the  belief  that 
their  parents  and  friends,  and  all  who  had  died  without 
the  saving  grace  of  Christianity,  were  suffering  the  most 
cruel  torments  in  hell  fire,  where  they  would  burn  for 
ever  and  ever  without  the  slightest  alleviation  of  their 
sufferings.  Radbod,  one  of  their  kings,  taking  the 
matter  to  heart  more  seriously  than  his  followers,  drew 
back  his  foot  after  he  had  entered  the  baptismal  font, 
and  refused  to  accept  a  religion  which  taught  such  a 
doctrine.  Towards  the  end  of  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,"  Gibbon  gives  an  account  of  the 
conversion  to  Christianity  of  the  northern  nations  ;  and 
the  wholesale  manner  in  which  it  was  invariably  effected 
by  the  kings  and  rulers  is  positive  proof  that  it  was 
purely  a  matter  of  form. 

1   "  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  417. 


222         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


Everybody  has  heard  the  story  of  Pope  Gregory  the 
Great,  in  the  sixth  century,  being  struck  with  the  noble 
bearing  of  the  Saxon  boys  that  were  offered  for  sale  as 
slaves  in  the  market-place  at  Rome,  and  sending 
Augustine  and  forty  monks  to  Britain  to  convert  the 
heathens.  In  less  than  two  years  after  they  landed, 
Augustine  wrote  that  he  had  baptized  the  King  of  Kent, 
with  ten  thousand  of  his  Anglo-Saxon  subjects  !  and  that 
they  were  armed  only  with  spiritual  and  supernatural 
powers.  The  powers  with  which  they  were  armed  were 
really  presents  and  bribes  to  the  king  ;  and  the  conversion 
of  the  ten  thousand  subjects  simply  meant  the  acceptance 
of  baptism  by  the  king  in  return  for  a  certain  sum  of 
money  and  other  presents.  And  in  this  way  Christianity 
became  the  religion  of  Britain. 

Profoundly  politic  in  all  her  dealings,  after  power  and 
wealth  had  been  attained,  the  Church  in  all  cases 
directed  her  attention  to  the  rulers  of  peoples,  whom  her 
large  revenues  enabled  her  to  convert  without  much 
spiritual  persuasion.  The  rest  was  easy ;  the  people 
followed  the  example  of  their  chief.  Christianity,  or  any 
other  religion,  having  once  become  the  faith  of  a  nation, 
is  imbibed  by  succeeding  generations  with  their  mother's 
milk,  and  becomes  interwoven  with  the  life  of  the  people. 
It  is  the  most  indisputable  of  all  historical  facts  that 
religions  are  handed  down  from  sire  to  son  without  the 
necessity,  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  of  submitting  their 
doctrines  to  the  examination  of  reason.  With  the  great 
majority  of  people  the  teachings  of  childhood — 
on  the  emotional  side  of  our  nature — last  to  the  end  of 
life. 

It  is  with  a  full  knowledge  of  this  fact  that  the 
dogmatists  of  all  persuasions,  but  more  especially  the 
Roman  Catholic,  never  fail  to  inculcate  the  great  duty 
on  the  part  of  the  parents  of  bringing  up  their  children 
in  strictly  "  religious  principles."  They  know  that  it  is 
only  in  the  tender  years,  when  the  mind  is,  like  wax, 
prepared  to  receive  any  impression  we  choose  to  imprint 
upon  it,  that  their  teaching  will  have  effect.  Let  the 
intelligence  develop  and  reason  exert  her  power,  and  the 
opportunity  is  lost  for  ever. 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  223 


In  this  respect  the  Church  is  much  wiser  and  more 
vigilant  than  her  opponents ;  the  latter  wait  until  years 
of  discretion  are  reached,  and  they  can  appeal  to  what 
they  vainly  think  is  the  reason,  as  though  men  or 
women  were  ever  really  guided  by  reason  in  such 
matters.  The  former  knows  better,  and  asks  only  to 
have  the  moulding  and  shaping  of  the  young  emotions  ; 
the  reason  may  look  after  itself,  or  be  left  to 
the  guidance  of  her  enemies,  for  all  the  Church 
cares. 

Robert  Owen,  who  knew  the  young  mind  well,  said  : 
"  Neglect  a  child  in  its  tender  years,  and  the  devil  will 
have  got  there  before  you." 

To  the  contention  that  the  dark  ages  were  due  to  the 
destruction  of  learning  by  the  Christians,  Gibbon  bears 
emphatic  testimony  in  the  following  passage : 

"  The  favourites  of  Heaven  were  accustomed  to  cure  inveterate 
diseases  with  a  touch,  a  word,  or  a  distant  message,  and  to  expel 
the  most  obstinate  demon  from  the  souls  or  bodies  which  they 
possessed.  They  familiarly  accosted  or  imperiously  commanded 
the  lions  and  serpents  of  the  desert,  infused  vegetation  into  a  sapless 
trunk,  suspended  iron  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  passed  the  Nile 
on  the  back  of  a  crocodile,  and  refreshed  themselves  in  a  fiery 
furnace.  These  extravagant  tales,  which  display  the  fiction,  without 
the  genius,  of  poetry,  have  seriously  affected  the  reason,  the  faith, 
and  the  morals  of  the  Christians.  Their  credulity  debased  and 
vitiated  the  faculties  of  the  mind  ;  they  corrupted  the  evidence  of 
history,  and  superstition  gradually  extinguished  the  hostile  light  of 
philosophy  and  science.  Every  mode  of  religious  worship  which 
had  been  practised  by  the  saints,  every  mysterious  doctrine  which 
they  believed,  was  fortified  by  the  sanction  of  divine  revelation. 
And  all  the  manly  virtues  were  oppressed  by  the  servile  and  pusil- 
lanimous reign  of  the  monks.  If  it  be  possible  to  measure  the 
interval  between  the  philosophic  writings  of  Cicero  and  the  sacred 
legend  of  Theodoret,  between  the  character  of  Cato  and  that  of 
Simeon,  we  may  appreciate  the  memorable  revolution  which  was 
accomplished  in  the  Roman  Empire  within  a  period  of  five  hundred 
years."  1 

This  is  a  very  remarkable  passage,  the  truth  and  justice 
of  which  history  proves  beyond  a  doubt.     This  revolu- 
tion, effected  by  Christianity,  from  learning  to  ignorance, 
from  light  to  darkness,  from  civilisation  to  barbarism, 
1   "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  358. 


224        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


within  a  period  of  five  centuries  from  its  commencement, 
while  it  is  evidence  of  the  great  power  it  had  acquired, 
is  at  the  same  time  an  unanswerable  proof  of  its  bane- 
ful influence  in  the  past  upon  the  happiness,  character, 
and  destinies  of  mankind.  It  would  be  an  easy  matter 
to  augment  the  evidence  from  a  hundred  sources  in 
proof  of  the  contention  ;  but  further  evidence  could 
not  add  to  the  weight  of  testimony  already  supplied 
from  the  course  of  history.  No  writer  with  any  regard 
for  truth  can  deal  with  the  first  five  centuries  without 
admitting  the  decay  of  learning  and  civilisation,  and  the 
growing  power  of  the  Church.  During  that  period 
Christianity  was  mainly  concerned  in  manufacturing  the 
most  effective  of  all  her  weapons,  viz.,  the  infallibility  of 
the  Bible  as  a  criterion  of  truth. 

With  the  Bible  on  one  hand  and  the  instruments  of 
torture  and  the  stake  on  the  other,  no  wonder  that  the 
intellect  was  paralysed,  and  civilisation  at  a  standstill. 
For  a  thousand  years  and  more  the  mind  of  Europe  lay 
prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  pope,  until  at  last  the  long- 
suppressed  force  found  voice  and  action,  as  it  was  bound 
to  do  sooner  or  later.  During  all  that  dreary  time  there 
is  very  little  to  record  ;  generations  came  and  went 
without  producing  much  change  for  the  better  ;  and 
Europe  may  be  said  to  have  remained  practically  in  a 
stationary  and  stagnant  condition. 

There  was  little  learning  outside  the  Church,  which 
exercised  a  jealous  control  over  the  teaching  in  the 
schools  and  the  private  studies  of  individuals.  The 
studies  of  the  Church  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
theological  subjects,  and  were  as  barren  of  any  fruitful 
results  as  they  were  interminable  and  incomprehensible. 
Words  were  everything,  facts  counted  for  nothing. 
There  was  no  attempt  to  study  the  laws  of  Nature.  The 
Bible  was  the  criterion  of  truth,  and  contained  all  the 
knowledge  that  God  intended  to  impart  to  man  ;  every- 
thing, therefore,  was  referred  to  the  Bible  for  explanation, 
wherever  explanation  was  deemed  necessary  or  expedient. 
If  the  consequences  had  not  been  so  serious,  it  would 
afford  amusement  to  read  the  explanations  of  natural 
phenomena  given  by  the  writers  and  fathers  of  the  Church. 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  225 


The  most  absurd  nonsense  it  is  possible  to  imagine  is 
gravely,  and  with  an  air  of  infallible  wisdom,  set  forth  in 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  ponderous  volumes.  It  is  no 
excuse  to  say  of  them  that  they  wrote  in  a  pre-scientific 
age.  They  were  the  inheritors  of  the  science  and  learn- 
ing of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  or  might  have  been  ;  but 
they  suppressed  and  killed  the  knowledge  of  previous 
ages,  and  set  up  their  own  ignorance  in  lieu  thereof. 

St.  Augustine  is  perhaps  the  greatest  authority  in  the 
Church.  For  many  centuries  nearly  all  theological  and 
"  scientific "  disputes  were  referred  to  his  writings  for 
settlement.  As  his  authority  was  greater  than  that  of 
any  other  saint  or  father,  so  has  he  done  more  than 
any  other  writer  in  placing  theology  in  a  position  an- 
tagonistic to  science.  We  can  give  only  a  few  samples 
of  the  "  learning  "  which  superseded  the  philosophy  and 
science  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Augustine's  unanswerable 
arguments  against  the  rotundity  of  the  earth  were,  that 
those  on  the  other  side  could  not  see  the  Lord  on  the 
Day  of  Judgment  descending  through  the  air ;  and  that 
no  such  race  is  recorded  by  Scripture  among  the 
descendants  of  Adam.  He  asks  how  people  can  be  so 
ignorant  as  to  think  that  men  can  walk  with  their  heads 
downwards  without  falling  away  from  the  earth,  as  they 
must  do  if  there  were  such  a  place  as  the  Antipodes. 

The  saint  waxes  wroth  over  the  folly  of  such  unheard- 
of  perversity.  Angels,  it  was  asserted,  moved  the  stars, 
and  carried  up  water  from  the  sea,  which  they  sent  down 
again  as  rain.  Physicians  were  stigmatised  as  atheists 
for  presuming  to  think  that  they  could  cure  disease  ; 
which  could  only  be  effected  by  prayer  at  the  shrines  of 
saints,  and  before  the  mouldering  bones  of  holy  men  and 
relics.  Islands  were  peopled  by  "  spontaneous  genera- 
tion." A  work  on  "  Christian  Topography,"  written  for 
the  purpose  of  refuting  the  heretical  notions  of  the 
globular  form  of  the  earth,  and  which  may  be  taken  as  a 
sample  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Christians  in  the  sixth 
century,  contains,  among  other  marvellous  scientific 
expositions,  the  following  : 

"That  the  earth  is  a  quadrangular  plain  extending 
four  hundred  days'  journey  east  and  west,  and  exactly 

p 


226         Evolution ,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


half  as  much  north  and  south  ;  that  it  is  enclosed  by 
mountains,  on  which  the  sky  rests  ;  that  one  on  the 
north  side,  larger  than  the  other,  by  intercepting  the 
rays  of  the  sun  produces  night ;  and  that  the  plane  of 
the  earth  is  not  set  exactly  horizontally,  but  with  a  little 
inclination  from  the  north  :  hence  the  Euphrates,  Tigris, 
and  other  rivers  running  southward  are  rapid  ;  but  the 
Nile,  having  to  run  uphill,  has  necessarily  a  very  slow 
current  !  " 

It  would  answer  no  purpose  to  dwell  at  greater  length 
upon  the  ignorance  of  Christendom  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  is  a  subject  that  can  be  studied  in  every  history,  and 
is  one  about  which  there  is  no  doubt. 

It  was  not  altogether  the  preaching  of  Luther  that 
released  the  mind  of  Europe  from  the  bonds  of  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  he  was  but  a  factor — a  prominent  one, 
no  doubt — in  the  great  social  movement  which  eventu- 
ally led  to  the  destruction  of  papal  supremacy,  and 
enabled  men  to  breathe  a  freer  intellectual  atmosphere. 
Luther  was  as  narrow,  intolerant,  and  bigoted  in  his  way 
as  the  pope  himself;  and  had  the  times  not  passed  away 
for  religious  autocracy,  he  would  have  established  a  little 
popedom  among  his  followers,  with  himself  as  pope. 
His  writings  show  that  he  would  have  had  no  mercy  for 
those  who  differed  from  him  on  religious  dogmas.  The 
burning  of  Servetus  by  Calvin  and  his  party  of  reformers 
is  ample  proof  of  what  they  would  have  been  capable  of 
doing  had  they  possessed  the  power.  That  hideous 
tragedy  was  approved  of  by  Melanchthon,  Bullinger, 
and  other  leading  reformers  of  the  time. 

The  secession  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  had 
long  been  in  preparation  throughout  Christendom. 
Kings  occasionally  had  chafed  under  the  autocratic 
domination  of  the  popes  ;  and  open  ruptures  between 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers  were  not  of  infrequent 
occurrence,  from  which  the  popes,  however,  invariably 
emerged  the  victors.  Every  such  contest  enabled  them 
to  rivet  more  firmly  the  ecclesiastical  chains  of  servitude 
around  the  necks  of  kings  and  peoples  alike,  until  the 
pope  virtually  became  the  ruler  of  Europe.  But  however 
absolute  the  papal  authority  may  have  become,  it  was 


From  Constantine  to  the  Crusades  227 

not  possible  to  preserve  an  uninterrupted  adjustment  of 
the  kingly  and  the  papal  power  in  every  country.  Pope 
Gregory  VII.  compelled  King  Henry  of  Germany,  in  the 
winter  of  1077,  to  stand  for  three  days,  clad  in  a  thin 
white  raiment,  before  his  palace  gates  without  food,  sup- 
plicating the  pope's  forgiveness!  This  was  not,  however, 
before  Henry  had  measured  his  strength  with  the  pope. 
His  submission  was  not  due  to  his  own  religious  fears, 
but  to  the  power  which  the  pope  possessed  of  compassing 
his  utter  ruin.  In  order  to  make  it  clear  that  the  pope 
was  supreme  in  Christendom,  Gregory  summoned  a 
Council  in  1076,  and  laid  it  down  : 

"  That  the  Roman  Pontiff  can  alone  be  called 
universal;  that  he  alone  has  the  right  to  depose  bishops; 
that  his  legates  have  a  right  to  preside  over  all  bishops 
in  a  general  council;  that  he  can  depose  absent  prelates; 
that  he  alone  has  a  right  to  use"  imperial  ornaments  ; 
that  princes  are  bound  to  kiss  his  feet,  and  his  only  ; 
that  he  has  a  right  to  depose  emperors ;  that  no  synod 
or  council  summoned  without  his  commission  can  be 
called  general;  that  no  book  can  be  called  canonical 
without  his  authority  ;  that  his  sentence  can  be  annulled 
by  none,  but  that  he  may  annul  the  decrees  of  all ;  that 
the  Roman  Church  has  been,  is,  and  will  continue  to  be, 
infallible ;  that  whoever  dissents  from  it  ceases  to  be  a 
Catholic  Christian  ;  and  that  subjects  may  be  absolved 
from  their  allegiance  to  wicked  princes." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  form  a  resolution  asserting 
more  absolute  power  than  the  pope  claimed  in  this 
constitution. 

The  quarrel  again  breaking  out  between  King  Henry 
and  Gregory,  the  latter  summoned  to  his  aid  his  Norman 
allies,  and  within  a  short  time  Rome  was  once  again  in 
ruins  ;  streets,  palaces,  churches,  were  reduced  to  a  heap 
of  smoking  ashes ;  men,  women,  and  children,  were 
massacred  in  thousands ;  matrons,  young  women  and 
nuns  were  violated,  and  then  slaughtered.  It  was  an 
awful  scene,  this  home  of  the  "  Vicar  of  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CRUSADES   TO   REFORMATION 

The  contest  between  pope  and  kings  had  reduced  the 
papal  finances ;  and  there  was  some  fear  that  if  these 
contentions  were  allowed  to  go  on,  papal  supremacy 
would  in  the  end  suffer.  Just  about  this  time  an 
enthusiast,  named  Peter  the  Hermit,  returned  from  the 
Holy  Land,  and  travelling  through  the  towns  of  Europe, 
so  inflamed  by  his  harangues  the  passions  of  the  people 
by  the  accounts  he  gave  of  Christian  sufferings  at  the 
hands  of  the  infidel  Mohammedans,  that  a  burning  desire 
to  rescue  Palestine  from  their  possession  passed  like  a 
wave  of  wild-fire  from  one  end  of  Christendom  to  the 
other. 

The  pope  saw  his  opportunity  of  not  only  bringing 
every  Christian  man  and  woman  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  Church,  but  also  of  replenishing  the  papal 
finances.  He  accordingly  gave  his  sanction  to  the 
formation  of  an  army  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  the 
Holy  Land  from  the  infidels.  It  is  said  that  the 
preaching  of  Peter  roused  the  people  to  such  a  frantic 
state  that  many  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children 
assembled  from  all  parts  and  marched  eastward,  deter- 
mined to  obtain  possession  of  the  holy  places.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  famous  Crusades.  And  it  was  also 
the  beginning  of  the  intellectual  movement  which  led  to 
the   Reformation. 

The  stagnant  condition  in  which  Europe  had  been 
sunk  for  many  centuries  was  now,  for  the  first  time, 
disturbed  ;  and  barbaric  Europe  was  now  brought  in 
contact  with  the  high  civilisation  of  the  Mohammedans. 
Every  man  who  fought  in  the  Crusades  was  enlisted 
under  the  banner  of  the  Church,  and  money  again 
flowed    into    Rome.       The    religious    enthusiasm    was 

228 


Crusades  to  Reformation  229 


intense,  and  people  in  every  part  of  Christendom  gave 
all  they  possessed  to  the  Church.  During  the  continu- 
ance of  the  Crusades,  the  Church  became  possessed  of  a 
great  part  of  the  land  of  Europe. 

People  gave  their  estates  as  freely  as  they  gave  their 
portable  wealth.  Weak-minded  sinners  gave  immense 
domains  to  the  Church,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  salva- 
tion for  their  souls.  The  Crusades  proved  a  grand  haul 
for  the  Church,  but  they  also  sowed  the  seed  of  her 
dissolution.  The  Crusades  lasted  about  two  hundred 
years,  and  during  that  time  the  progress  of  Europe  was 
very  rapid  indeed,  notwithstanding  the  millions  that 
perished  in  the  rash  and  fanatical  enterprises. 

A  comparison  of  Christian  Europe  at  this  time  with 
the  East  is  not  very  flattering  to  the  former.  The 
Europeans  had  scarcely  emerged  from  a  condition  of 
barbarism.  Their  only  clothing  was  the  skins  of 
animals,  which  they  wore  until  they  dropped  from  sheer 
rottenness  ;  round  their  legs  they  wore  wisps  of  straw  ; 
their  hair  was  unkempt,  and  their  bodies  unwashed. 
Their  houses  were  merely  mud  hovels,  with  no  windows 
or  chimneys,  and  even  the  castles  of  the  great  barons 
were  destitute  of  anything  approaching  to  comfort.  It 
was  considered  a  mark  of  luxury  to  indulge  in  the 
spread  of  rushes  over  the  uneven  mud  floors.  The 
carriages  of  the  kings  were  rough  waggons  drawn  by 
bullocks. 

These  untaught  barbarians  had  been  led  to  believe 
that  the  Mohammedans  were  a  savage  race  of  people, 
who  were  in  an  infinitely  worse  condition  than  they 
themselves  were.  Their  surprise,  therefore,  can  be 
imagined  when  they  were  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
Arabs,  and  the  beautiful  cities  of  the  East.  It  could 
only  be  paralleled  to-day  by  hordes  of  Africans  coming 
for  the  first  time  to  the  capitals  of  Europe. 

It  is  most  remarkable  that  the  enthusiasm  for  the  holy 
war  should  have  been  kept  alive  so  long  after  the 
disastrous  and  miserable  failure  after  failure  which  over- 
took the  hordes  that  were  continually  pouring  out  of 
Europe.  The  waysides  were  said  to  have  been  strewn 
with  the  bleached  bones  of  the  poor  crusaders.     Millions 


230         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


perished  through  hunger,  pestilence,  and  the  sword. 
And  the  sufferings  they  both  endured  and  inflicted  were 
incalculable.  It  is  marvellous  that  the  Christians  should 
not  have  lost  heart  and  faith  in  a  God  who  permitted 
them  to  be  slaughtered  in  their  tens  of  thousands,  while 
trying  to  do  honour  to  him  in  striving  to  rescue  the  holy 
places  from  the  defilement  of  the  infidel.  The  atrocities 
committed  by  the  crusaders  are  beyond  the  power  of 
language  to  describe. 

11  The  brains  of  young  children  were  dashed  out  against 
the  walls ;  infants  were  thrown  over  the  battlements ; 
every  woman  that  could  be  seized  was  violated  ;  men 
were  roasted  at  fires ;  some  were  ripped  open  to  see  if 
they  had  swallowed  gold ;  the  Jews  were  driven  into 
their  synagogues,  and  there  burnt ;  a  massacre  of  nearly 
70,000  persons  took  place ;  and  the  pope's  legate  was 
seen  '  partaking  in  the  triumph.'  Ecclesiastical  vengeance 
rioted  in  luxury.  The  soil  was  steeped  in  the  blood  of 
men — the  air  polluted  by  their  burning.  From  the  reek 
of  murdered  women,  mutilated  children  and  ruined  cities, 
the  Inquisition,  that  infernal  institution,  arose.  .  .  .  Four 
hundred  poor  creatures  were  burnt  in  one  pile.  Such 
atrocious  deeds  were  done  by  the  crusaders  as  the  sun 
has  never  before  or  since  shone  upon." 

Dr.  Draper,  in  his  "  Intellectual  Development  of 
Europe," 1  gives  an  admirable  descriptive  account  of  the 
learning,  civilisation,  and  refinement  of  the  Arabs  at  the 
time  of  the  Crusades.  It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate 
the  influence  which  contact  with  such  a  high  state  of 
civilisation  must  have  had  on  the  minds  of  the  Europeans. 
The  peasants  were  no  longer  content  to  live  the  life  of 
slaves,  and  revolts  against  the  feudal  system  soon  became 
common.  The  peasant  revolt  in  Kent  and  Sussex  in 
1372,  we  may  fairly  infer,  was  influenced  greatly  by  the 
spirit  engendered  by  the  Crusades. 

In  England  the  Church  was  in  possession  of  over  one- 
third  of  the  land,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  barons, 
held  the  peasants  in  a  state  of  legal  bondage,  which 
compelled  them  to  work  for  their  masters  on  terms 
established  by  law.     If  they  ran  away,  they  were  brought 

1  Page  62. 


Crusades  to  Reformation  231 


back  and  branded  on  the  forehead  with  a  hot  iron. 
Throughout  Europe  a  fermentation  of  unrest  was  going 
on  among  the  labouring  classes,  while  the  more  intellec- 
tual were  beginning  to  throw  off  the  heavy  yoke  that 
had  oppressed  them  for  so  long. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  on  the  subject  of  national 
progress,  that  a  century  in  the  life  of  a  nation  corresponds 
to  only  a  short  space  of  time  in  the  life  of  an  individual. 
In  a  hundred  years,  therefore,  we  must  not  look  for  any 
very  great  progress  in  the  evolutionary  life  of  Europe,  even 
in  the  most  favourable  ages.  For  many  centuries  preced- 
ing the  Crusades,  the  social  forces  of  Christendom  had 
been  suppressed  by  the  influence  of  the  Church,  but  they 
had  not  been  annihilated ;  they  had  been  gathering 
greater  intensity  and  power  from  age  to  age :  and  hence 
the  vitality  displayed  by  Europe  for  so  long  a  period 
under  unexampled  misfortunes  and  defeats. 

Social  forces  may  be  held  in  subjection  by  superior 
force,  but  they  cannot  be  annihilated ;  and  the  time 
must  come  when  explosion  is  inevitable,  and  terrible  are 
the  results  to  suffering  humanity.  It  is  almost  certain 
that  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  there  would 
have  been  some  awful  upheavals  throughout  Europe  had 
the  Crusades  not  offered  an  outlet  by  turning  the  tides 
towards  the  East.  Whether  the  popes  and  their  ad- 
visers saw  this  or  not,  we  cannot  say  ;  but  the  rulers  of 
Europe  to-day  are  conscious  of  the  explosive  nature  of 
social  force.  The  great  French  Revolution  was  a  lesson 
which  has  left  its  impress  upon  the  minds  of  rulers  ;  and 
they  dread,  above  all  things,  the  accumulation  of  dis- 
content among  the  masses  of  the  people. 

Mohammedan  Spain  had  been  for  a  long  time  in  a 
high  state  of  civilisation.  The  Arabs  were  in  possession 
of°the  learning  and  social  arts  of  the  Alexandrians.  It 
was  chiefly  from  Spain  that  civilisation  found  its  way  to 
Germany,  Italy,  France,  and  England.  Even  at  that 
distant  time,  the  Spanish  Arabs  had,  in  some  respects, 
reached  a  stage  of  progress  beyond  which  Europe  has  to 
this  day  scarcely  advanced.  We  are  indebted  to  them  for 
many  of  our  personal  comforts.  The  society  of  Cordova 
was  polite  and   refined  ;  and   in  addition  to  imparting 


232         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

their  manners  and  customs  to  their  neighbours,  the 
French,  it  was  from  the  Arabs  that  the  love  of  the  horse 
was  imbibed  by  the  nobles  of  Europe.  The  polite 
literature  of  modern  Europe  had  its  birth  in  Spain. 

The  Arabs  held  that  learning  is  of  far  more  conse- 
quence to  a  man  than  the  belief  in  any  particular  form 
of  religion.  The  number  of  Arabic  words  in  the  English 
language  is  an  indication,  though  not  a  measure,  of  our 
obligations  to  the  Saracens.  Those  people  had  the 
intelligence  and  the  genius  to  profit  by  the  remains  of 
Greek  learning  which  they  found  in  Alexandria  when 
they  conquered  that  famous  city.  They  took  means  for 
the  spread  of  education  and  enlightenment  among  the 
people;  libraries  were  established  in  all  their  principal 
towns,  the  streets  of  which  were  well  lighted  with  lamps. 
It  was  seven  hundred  years  from  this  period  before  a 
single  lamp  appeared  in  the  streets  of  London. 

We  have  no  space  to  describe  in  detail  the  condition 
of  Mohammedan  civilisation ;  it  was  probably  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  Europe  at  the  present  time,  with 
certain  exceptions  arising  out  of  recent  discoveries  and 
inventions.  The  Saracens  had  not  by  any  means  the 
same  opportunities  that  the  Christians  had  of  benefiting 
by  the  learning  of  the  ancient  world.  The  latter  came 
in  contact  with  Greece  and  Rome  many  centuries  before 
the  former,  and  at  a  time  when  the  intellectual  activity 
was  at  its  highest.  Notwithstanding  this,  and  though 
the  Mohammedans  drew  their  chief  inspiration  from 
what  remained  of  Greek  and  Roman  learning,  in  the 
eleventh  century  they  were  highly  civilised,  learned  and 
polite,  while  the  Christians  were  ignorant,  barbarous,  and 
churlish.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  native  genius  of 
the  Arab  was  superior  to  that  of  the  European  ;  subse- 
quent history  proved  the  contrary.  The  explanation  is 
to  be  sought  in  the  difference  between  Christianity  and 
Mohammedanism.  While  the  latter  encouraged  every 
kind  of  learning  and  freedom  of  inquiry,  the  former  did 
its  utmost  to  suppress  learning  and  destroy  the  powers 
of  the  intellect. 

Christianity  not  only  kept  Europe  stationary  for  a 
thousand    years,   but    it    destroyed    the    learning   and 


Crusades  to  Reformation  233 


civilisation  of  the  early  times  by  burning  the  great 
masterpieces  of  Greek  and  Roman  intellect,  razing  to 
the  ground  many  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings,  and 
forbidding  all  studies,  except  the  barren  subjects  of 
theology  and  the  Bible.  It  thereby  effectually  pre- 
vented Europeans  from  participating  in  the  knowledge 
which  would  undoubtedly  in  a  few  centuries  have 
civilised  those  healthy,  vigorous,  intelligent  races.  ^  In 
proof  of  this  we  have  but  to  consider  the  prodigious 
strides  that  were  made  within  a  hundred  years  or  so  at 
the  Renaissance.  A  short  time  previous  to  this  epoch 
the  peoples  of  Europe  were  little  in  advance  of  their 
condition  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  ;  and  yet  as  soon 
as  the  oppression  and  mind-destroying  power  of  the 
Roman  Church  was  removed,  the  intellect  grew  with 
marvellous  rapidity,  bearing  fruit  in  every  department 
of  human  inquiry  and  activity. 

The  main  foundations  on  which  the  Arabians  built  up 
their  grand  social  structure  consisted  of  the  meagre 
remnants  of  ancient  learning  which  they  found  in 
Alexandria  and  elsewhere,  after  the  Christians  had  done 
the  greater  part  of  their  work  of  destruction.  Surely 
nothing  could  better  or  more  forcibly  illustrate  ^  the 
respective  merits  and  demerits  of  the  two  religions. 
One  is  almost  inclined  to  express  regret  that  the 
Arabian  conqueror  did  not  carry  out  his  famous 
declaration,  that  he  would  preach  the  unity  of  God  in 
the  Vatican. 

The  vast  political  machine  of  Rome— religious  it  no 
longer  was,  if  indeed  it  had  ever  been — became  alto- 
gether unmanageable  in  the  thirteenth  century.  To 
pressure  from  without  was  now  added  defection  from 
within.  The  mendicant  friars,  who  had  been  among 
the  most  ferocious  bigots,  had  fallen  under  the  influence 
of  the  intellectual  upheaval,  and  began  to  question  the 
pretensions  and  dogmas  of  the  Church.  Many  of  these 
men  were  now  professors  in  the  university  of  Paris  and 
elsewhere,  and  were  among  the  most  enlightened  of  their 
times.  They  revolted  against  the  mass  of  superstition 
which  went  under  the  name  of  religion  ;  and  occupying 
many  of  the  chairs  of  theology  in  the  University,  their 


234         Evolution t  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


influence  was  more  formidable  to  the  Church  than  that 
of  the  swords  of  heretical  and  recalcitrant  kings  had 
been.  A  ray  of  knowledge  was  more  destructive  to  the 
Roman  Church  than  a  thousand  swords,  and  she  never 
made  any  pretence  of  hiding  her  knowledge  of  this  fact. 
She  was  bold,  outspoken,  and  uncompromising,  being 
firmly  seated,  as  she  thought,  on  a  permanent  throne  of 
power. 

It  required  all  the  vigilance  and  repressive  power  of 
Rome  to  detect  and  meet  the  growing  influence  of 
intellectual  inquiry  in  the  thirteenth  century.  A  desire 
to  know  something  of  the  works  of  the  ancient  Greeks 
was  springing  up,  and  the  writings  of  Aristotle  were 
gradually  taking  their  place  in  the  course  of  study. 
Innocent  III.,  A.D.  12 15,  forbade  the  study  of  Aristotle's 
physical  and  metaphysical  works  and  their  commentaries 
in  all  the  schools  of  Paris.  Gregory  X I.,  1 2  3 1 ,  interdicted 
those  on  natural  philosophy  until  they  had  been  purified 
by  the  theologians  of  the  Church.  Clement  IV.,  in  1265, 
instructed  his  legate  to  exercise  a  close  supervision  over 
the  schools,  and  not  to  allow  the  study  of  any  subject 
which  dealt  with  facts  of  Nature.  Dialectics,  or  the  art 
of  wrangling,  was  the  only  subject  of  study  permitted. 

The  quarrel  between  Frederick  II.  of  Germany  and 
the  popes  led  to  far-reaching  consequences  to  the 
papacy.  Frederick  was  educated  in  Sicilv  among  the 
enlightened  Arabians  and  Jews,  and  being  a  man  of  ex- 
ceptional intelligence,  he  soon  drew  upon  himself  the 
condemnation  of  Pope  Gregory  IX.  He  passed  many 
wise,  liberal,  and  just  laws,  which  were  far  in  advance  of 
his  time  ;  and  he  ventured  to  rebuke  the  Church  in  the 
face  of  all  Europe,  for  which  act  of  temerity  there  was, 
of  course,  no  forgiveness.  He  was  excommunicated,  and 
his  body  delivered  over  to  Satan  for  the  good  of  his  soul  ; 
his  subjects  were  absolved  from  their  allegiance,  but  the 
spell  by  which  the  Church  had  held  Europe  in  bondage 
was  broken.  Frederick  appealed  to  all  the  sovereigns 
of  Christendom,  and,  although  in  the  end  he  was  defeated, 
it  was  not  before  he  had  shaken  the  papacy  to  its 
foundation. 

The  conflict  was  maintained  for  thirty  years,  and  the 


Crusades  to  Reformation  235 

amount  of  freedom  of  thought  which  it  engendered  gave 
an  impetus  to  intellectual  inquiry  which  found  effectual 
expression  in  the  Renaissance.  Frederick  marched  an 
army  to  Rome,  determined  to  arrest  and  chastise  the 
aged  pontiff  who  sat  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  ;  but  the 
pope  saved  himself  by  flight  to  France.  The  revolt 
spread  in  all  directions,  and  the  Church  outdid  herself  in 
the  atrocious  measures  which  were  taken  to  put  it  down. 

Thousands  of  men  and  women  were  confined  in  the 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  and  were  subjected  to  inde- 
scribable torture,  until  they  were  driven  mad  by  their 
unendurable  sufferings.  Hundreds  were  put  into  pens 
made  of  stakes  and  filled  with  straw  and  burnt  alive  ; 
and  while  the  flames  encircled  them,  the  Christians 
drowned  their  piteous  cries  by  loud  prayers  to  God 
that  he  would  "  send  their  souls  straight  to  everlasting 
hell  fire ! "  Before  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims  and 
seventeen  other  prelates,  on  one  occasion,  one  hundred 
and  eighty-three  persons  of  both  sexes  were  burned  alive 

The  philosophical  writings  of  Averroes,  a  Moham- 
medan .  of  Cordova,  in  the  twelfth  century,  exercised 
considerable  influence  over  the  whole  of  Europe.  He 
was  a  commentator  of  Aristotle  and  other  Greek  writers. 
His  maxim  was  that  "all  religions  are  false,  although  all 
are  probably  useful/'  The  Christians  attributed  to 
Averroes  the  whole  of  the  infidelity  of  the  times.  Some, 
even  of  the  Christian  sects,  inclined  to  his  views. 
Throughout  Christendom  he  had  many  followers. 

A  well-known  living  writer  speaks  of  his  "error"  in 
confounding  force  with  the  "psychical  principle";  but 
he  is  probably  nearer  the  truth  than  the  modern  writer, 
and  certainly  more  in  accordance  with  the  trend  of 
modern  philosophy  and  science. 

Averroes  was  deeply  versed  in  Greek  philosophy,  and 
from  his  time  to  the  appearance  of  Luther  there  was  a 
revival  all  over  Europe  of  Alexandrian  philosophy  and 
science.  In  this  revival,  however,  Luther  himself  did 
not  participate  ;  but  it  prepared  men's  minds  for  the 
reception  of  his  protest  against  the  pretensions  of  the 
Roman  Church.  A  more  liberal  spirit  of  enlightenment 
was  abroad.     The  Arabs  had  shown  Europe,  through  a 


236         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

variety  of  channels,  the  inestimable  value  of  the  learning 
which  the  early  Christians  had  laboured  so  assiduously 
and  successfully  to  suppress.  In  the  Church  herself 
many  learned  men  arose  who  chafed  under  papal  dicta- 
tion ;  and  though  no  one  had  the  courage  or  the  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice  sufficiently  strong  to  openly  expose  to 
the  people  the  true  nature  of  Roman  Christianity,  and 
thereby  defy  the  Church,  thousands  nursed  in  secret  a 
bitter  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  whole  system,  which 
was  ready  at  any  moment  to  manifest  itself  in  outward 
action.  Hence  it  was  that  when  the  brave  and  fearless 
Luther  appeared  and  boldly  proclaimed  to  the  people 
from  the  house-tops  that  Rome  was  a  fratcd^tho.  spirit  of 
revolt  could  no  longer  be  kept  down. 

The  news  of  his  burning  the  pope's  bull  of  excom- 
munication in  the  market-place,  before  the  whole  world, 
was  magical  in  its  effects.  The  enthusiasm  which  such 
an  unheard-of  act  of  daring  courage  evoked  was  immense, 
and  the  fierce  outburst  struck  terror  to  the  heart  of  Rome. 
For  the  first  time  in  her  long  career  of  despotism  she 
trembled  and  stayed  her  hand.  Fortunately  for  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind,  she  never  recovered  her  former  power. 

The  treatment  of  the  great  astronomer,  Galileo,  is  one 
of  the  most  melancholy  incidents  recorded  in  history. 
Most  readers  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
conflict  between  religion  and  astronomy.  Copernicus, 
Kepler,  and  Galileo,  three  of  the  most  illustrious  men 
of  the  Renaissance,  and  indeed  we  might  almost  say  of 
all  times,  very  nearly  escaped  being  burnt  alive  for  their 
grand  and  immortal  astronomical  discoveries.  Galileo 
was  seized  and  compelled,  under  pain  of  being  tortured 
and  then  burned,  to  recant  his  "  heresies  "  on  his  knees 
before  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  Roman  Church.  When 
the  sublime  old  man  rose  from  his  humiliating  posture, 
and  still  more  humiliating  recantation,  before  his  holy 
tormentors,  he  is  said  to  have  passionately  reaffirmed 
the  truth  that  the  earth  does  move  round  the  sun. 

Galileo  was  accused  of  imposture,  blasphemy,  heresy, 
atheism,  and  denounced  as  an  enemy  to  God  and  man. 
With  his  hand  on  the  Bible,  he  was  made  to  curse  and 
abjure  the  doctrine  that  the  earth  moves  round  the  sun, 


Crusades  to  Reformation  237 


which  the  churchmen  said  was  contrary  to  the  holy 
Scriptures,  and  therefore  a  blasphemous  falsehood.  This 
venerable  and  illustrious  man  was  then  thrown  into 
prison,  where  he  was  kept  for  sixteen  years,  until  he 
died,  and  was  treated  in  the  most  cruel  manner. 

Geology  also  helped  to  give  the  death-blow  to  the 
Bible  as  a  criterion  of  scientific  truth.  Poor  Hugh 
Miller  blew  his  brains  out  because  he  could  not  reconcile 
his  geological  researches  with  the  Bible.  Had  he  lived 
a  few  years  later,  the  companionship  of  sympathy  with 
his  views  would  have  preserved  the  balance  of  his  mind. 
In  the  days  of  her  power  the  Church  forced  the  intellect 
into  compliance  with  the  Bible ;  in  the  days  of  her 
weakness  she  strives  to  force  the  Bible  into  compliance 
with  the  intellect,  and  in  both  she  has  signally  failed,  as 
every  attempt  to  perpetuate  untruth  must  sooner  or 
later  end  in  defeat  and  disgrace. 

All  true  knowledge  is  antagonistic  to  dogmatic 
religion,  but  the  most  deadly  of  all  is,  perhaps,  that  of 
astronomy.  Religious  myths  cannot  live  in  the  light  of 
astronomy.  It  is,  for  obvious  reasons,  one  of  the  oldest 
subjects  of  study  ;  it  engaged  the  attention  of  the  leading 
minds  of  the  ancient  world,  as  we  have  seen  ;  and  it  was 
the  greatest  disintegrator  and  destroyer  of  the  religions 
of  those  days.  Historically  and  intellectually,  it  is  the 
most  important  of  all  the  sciences,  as  the  friend  of  man 
in  his  long  contest  with  the  dark,  superstitious  side  of 
the  human  mind.  All  formulated  religious  creeds  have 
had  to  give  way  before  the  advancing  disclosures  of  the 
true  mechanism  of  the  heavens. 

How,  for  example,  could  a  religion  continue  to  live 
which  taught  that  the  earth  was  the  largest  and  most 
important  body  of  the  Universe ;  and  that  at  a  short 
distance  above  it  the  controlling  powers  resided,  whose 
time  was  occupied  in  the  consideration  and  conduct  of 
the  affairs  of  man  ?  For  astronomy  and  Olympus  to 
exist  in  the  same  mind  was  a  moral  impossibility.  The 
Olympian  divinities,  and  those  of  the  Bible,  have  a  like 
origin  ;  they  have  all  sprung  from  the  vain  attempts  of 
man  in  unenlightened  ages  to  account  for  himself  and 
his  surroundings.  And  astronomy  and  the  Bible  are  as 
incompatible  as  astronomy  and  Olympus. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MODERN    CHRISTIANITY 

The  literature  of  the  Reformation  is  so  voluminous  that 
it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  events  which  were 
said  to  be  the  immediate  causes  of  Luther's  protest. 
There  is  ground  for  believing  that  he  was  actuated  by 
other  motives  than  those  of  a  purely  religious  character. 
The  sale  of  indulgences  for  the  commission  of  sins  was 
a  source  of  revenue  to  the  popes  and  bishops.  Every 
sin  could  be  freely  indulged  in,  and  wiped  out  by  a 
money  payment.  The  popes,  perceiving  how  lucrative 
the  system  became,  withdrew  the  power  of  sale  from  the 
bishops  and  appropriated  it  entirely  to  themselves.  The 
mendicant  orders  were  employed  as  agents  for  the  sale 
of  these  indulgences  ;  and  as  it  was  a  money-making 
business,  there  was  a  strong  competition  among  the 
orders,  each  boasting  of  the  superior  value  of  its  in- 
dulgences, owing  to  its  greater  influence  in  the  court  of 
heaven,  and  its  more  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints. 

This  traffic,  it  seems,  had  been  withheld  from  the 
order  to  which  Luther  belonged,  and  conferred  upon 
some  others,  which  gave  great  offence  to  the  German 
monk.  There  are  also  other  motives  of  a  personal 
character  attributed  to  Luther,  which  are  said  to  have 
influenced  him  in  the  course  he  pursued  ;  but  whether 
they  existed,  or  are  only  the  inventions  of  his  enemies, 
we  cannot  say.  Whatever  may  have  been  his  motives  is 
of  little  consequence  now ;  it  is  certain  that  he  rebelled 
against  the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  that 
he  took  the  most  effectual  means  for  making  known  the 
grounds  of  his  uncompromising  attitude. 

He  was   not   the  first  who   protested  against   papal 

238 


Modern  Christianity  239 

pretensions  ;  but  the  times  in  which  he  lived  were  ripe 
for  the  reception  of  accusations  against  the  Church,  and 
his  preaching  was  listened  to  by  sympathetic  audiences. 
It  was  not  altogether  that  he  exposed  flagrant  frauds  in 
the  Church,  which  procured  for  him  such  widespread 
sympathy ;  he  touched  a  chord  in  the  heart  of  Europe 
which  had  long  been  trembling  on  the  verge  of  strong 
vibration,  and  he  released  the  pent-up  feeling  of  ages. 

The  Church  had  become  an  intolerable  outrage  upon 
the  understanding  of  the  age ;  and  when  Luther  pro- 
claimed and  denounced  the  most  glaring  abominations, 
he  appealed  to  minds  already  predisposed  to  echo  his 
denunciations.  But  neither  Luther  nor  those  who 
worked  with  him,  nor  those  who  followed  him,  were  in 
a  strict  sense  religious  reformers.  They  were  the  ex- 
posers  of  Catholic  frauds,  but  they  did  not  touch  the 
dogmas  of  religion  ;  on  the  contrary,  Luther  denounced 
with  all  the  choice  language  at  his  command  the 
"  pretensions  "  of  science  and  philosophy. 

The  fundamental  idea  which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the 
controversy  between  Luther  and  the  papacy  was  as  to 
whether  the  Bible  was  to  be  considered  as  owing  its 
authority  to  the  Church,  or  the  Church  her  authority  to 
the  Bible.  Luther  maintained  that  the  Church  was 
subservient  to  the  Bible,  and  that  he  had  a  right  to 
exercise  his  private  judgment  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
holy  Scriptures.  But  although  he  denied  the  right  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  for  him,  he 
jealously  claimed  for  himself  the  right  to  interpret  them 
for  others  ;  and  the  Protestant  Church  was  as  dogmatic  in 
this,  and  in  other  respects,  as  the  Roman  Church  had 
been.  Every  man  was  at  liberty  to  read  the  Bible  only 
as  Luther  himself  read  it ;  but  no  one  was  at  liberty  to 
criticise  it  by  the  light  of  science,  or  to  question  in  any 
way  the  truth  of  a  single  sentence. 

The  Bible,  according  to  the  Reformers,  was  still  the 
criterion  of  truth,  still  contained  the  sum  total  of  human 
knowledge ;  and  was  accepted  by  all  the  Protestant 
Churches  as  an  infallible  and  sufficient  guide  for  every 
Christian. 

The  great  service  which  the  Reformers  rendered  to 


240        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

mankind  consisted  in  opening  the  Bible  to  private 
judgment ;  another  right  than  that  of  Rome  to  construe 
the  Bible  was  established  ;  and  it  was  impossible  that 
they  could  long  prevent  that  criticism  of  the  Scriptures 
which  science  forced  upon  intelligent  men.  But  Luther 
and  Melanchthon  both  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost 
to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  science  and  philosophy  into 
the  Protestant  Church. 

Luther  declared  that  science  was  quite  unnecessary, 
and  that  the  Scriptures  contained  all  that  it  was  essential 
or  proper  to  know.  He  reviled  the  great  thinkers  in  the 
coarsest  language.  The  illustrious  Greek  philosopher, 
Aristotle,  he  says  is  "  truly  a  devil,  a  horrid  calumniator,  a 
wicked  sycophant,  a  prince  of  darkness,  a  real  Apollyon, 
a  beast,  a  most  horrid  impostor  on  mankind ;  one  in 
whom  there  is  scarcely  any  philosophy ;  a  public  and 
professed  liar,  a  goat,  a  complete  epicure,  this  twice 
execrable  Aristotle."  The  schoolmen,  he  said,  were 
"locusts,  caterpillars,  frogs,  lice."  Calvin  shared  these 
views. 

Those  who  look  upon  the  Protestant  Church  as  the 
friend  of  progress  should  remember  that  the  Protestants 
roasted  Servetus,  a  good  man,  over  a  slozv  fire,  because 
he  had  said  that  he  believed  the  Holy  Ghost  animates 
the  whole  system  of  Nature  like  a  soul  of  the  world. 
Can  there  be  any  doubt  that,  if  such  ferocious  bigots 
had  possessed  the  power,  the  worst  brutalities  of  papal 
Rome  would  have  been  enacted  over  again  ?  Draper 
asks  :  "  Was  there  any  distinction  between  this  Protestant 
auto-da-fe  and  the  Catholic  one  of  Vanini,  who  was 
burnt  at  Toulouse  by  the  Inquisition  in  1629  for  his 
1  Dialogues  concerning  Nature  '  ?  "  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  if  the  Reformed  Church  had  begun  its  career  a 
thousand  years  earlier  than  it  did,  it  would  have  run  a 
course  very  similar  to  that  through  which  the  Latin 
Church  passed.  How  can  the  cruel  murder  of  the 
inoffensive  Servetus  be  explained  otherwise  than  by  that 
spirit  of  persecution  which  seems  to  be  inherent  in 
dominant  religions  ? 

If  the  Roman  Church  became  a  mass  of  corruption,  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  Rome  was  not   the  birth- 


Modern  Christianity  24 1 


place  of  the  system ;  it  was  but  an  offshoot  of  the 
Byzantine  ecclesiastical  organisation,  which,  from  its 
very  nature,  was  destined  to  culminate  in  the  papacy, 
whether  in  Rome  or  Constantinople. 

The  seed  of  the  papal  crop  came  from  Byzantine 
policy,  as  that  policy  had  been  the  outgrowth  of  still 
earlier  sowing.  The  nature  of  that  seed  we  have  already 
seen  to  some  extent.  Draper  summarises  it  in  the 
following  passage : 

"  Scarcely  were  the  Asclepions  closed,  the  schools  of  philosophy 
prohibited,  the  libraries  dispersed  or  destroyed,  learning  branded 
as  magic  or  punished  as  treason,  philosophers  driven  into  exile,  and 
as  a  class  exterminated,  when  it  became  apparent  that  a  void  had 
been  created  which  it  was  incumbent  on  the  victors  to  fill.  Among 
the  great  prelates,  who  was  there  to  stand  in  the  place  of  those  men 
whose  achievements  had  glorified  the  human  race?  Who  was  to 
succeed  to  Archimedes,  Hipparchus,  Euclid,  Herophilus,  Eratos- 
thenes ?  Who  to  Plato  and  Aristotle  ?  The  quackeries  of  miracle- 
cure,  shrine-cure,  relic-cure,  were  destined  to  eclipse  the  genius  of 
Hippocrates,  and  nearly  two  thousand  years  to  intervene  between 
Archimedes  and  Newton,  nearly  seventeen  hundred  between 
Hipparchus  and  Kepler.  A  dismal  interval  of  almost  twenty 
centuries  parts  Hero,  whose  first  steam-engine  revolved  in  the 
Serapion,  from  James  Watt,  who  has  revolutionised  the  industry  of 
the  world.  What  a  fearful  blank  !  Yet  not  a  blank,  for  it  had  its 
products — hundreds  of  patristic  folios  filled  with  obsolete  specula- 
tions, oppressing  the  shelves  of  antique  libraries,  enveloped  in  dust, 
and  awaiting  the  worm. 

"  Never  was  a  more  disastrous  policy  adopted  than  the  Byzantine 
suppression  of  profane  learning.  It  is  scarcely  possible  now  to 
realise  the  mental  degradation  produced  when  that  system  was  at 
its  height.  Many  of  the  noblest  philosophical  and  scientific  works 
of  antiquity  disappeared  from  the  language  in  which  they  had  been 
written,  and  were  only  recovered,  for  the  use  of  later  and  better 
ages,  from  translations  which  the  Saracens  had  made  into  Arabic. 
The  insolent  assumption  of  wisdom  by  those  who  held  the  sword 
crushed  every  intellectual  aspiration." 

This  was  the  first-fruit  of  Christian  power.  Those 
who  maintain  that  early  Christianity,  previous  to  its 
alliance  with  the  State  in  the  time  of  Constantine,  was 
meek  and  lowly,  and  contained  the  seed  of  future 
progress  and  civilisation,  need  to  be  reminded  that  not 
only  was  the  religion  from  the  earliest  times  inherently 
uncompromising,  unyielding,  and  intolerant,  but,  as  we 

Q 


242         Evolution ,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


have  seen,  it  was  also  the  deadly  foe  to  learning  of  every 
kind,  without  which  civilisation  can,  of  course,  make  no 
progress. 

Persecution  was  a  logical  necessity  of  their  belief, 
if  the  soul  could  not  be  saved  otherwise.  Those 
who  would  not  accept  their  faith  were  enemies  of  God  ; 
and  to  persecute  and  punish  them  was  for  the  good  of 
their  souls,  as  well  as  pleasing  to  the  Deity.  What 
were  the  sufferings  of  the  worthless  body,  or  a  few  years 
of  life  on  earth,  compared  with  the  soul's  eternal  bliss 
in  heaven?  These  principles  were  inseparable  from 
Christianity.  They  are  in  evidence  right  throughout 
the  history  of  the  religion,  and  every  step  in  its 
development  was  the  natural  outcome  of  preceding 
steps,  from  the  death  on  the  cross  to  the  papal 
fires. 

What  is  the  position  of  the  Christian  Church  to-day  ? 
We  have  seen  how  she  stands  at  the  bar  of  history.  She 
is  mainly  responsible  for  that  long  stagnation  known  as 
the  Dark  Ages  ;  and  if  this  be  true,  then  she  must  be 
charged  with  having  been  instrumental  in  arresting 
progress,  and  throwing  back  civilisation  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years.  A  terrible  record,  indeed,  to  add  to  the 
torture  and  the  stake  ! 

Roman  Catholicism  and  the  Anglican  Church,  as  well 
as  all  other  religious  denominations,  claim  to-day,  as 
they  have  always  claimed  in  the  past,  to  exercise  great 
moral  and  civilising  influences.  That  they  do  a  large 
amount  of  good,  especially  among  the  very  poor  in  the 
slums  of  all  great  towns,  is  undeniable  ;  but  it  is  now 
generally  recognised  that  efforts  to  improve  the  lives  and 
conditions  of  the  very  poor,  to  meet  with  any  measure  of 
success,  must  be  of  a  secular  character. 

There  are  many  kind-hearted,  self-sacrificing  clergy- 
men engaged  in  this  good  work  of  charity,  all  of  whom 
are  entitled  to  esteem  and  respect.  It  has  not,  however, 
necessarily  any  connection  with  religion. 

The  Church  has  in  all  ages  been,  more  or  less,  a  friend 
to  the  poor,  in  the  sense  of  distributing  alms  among 
them,  most  of  which,  through  her  intercession,  has  been 
subscribed  by  the  well-to-do  classes.     Indeed,  in  times 


Modern  Christianity  243 


gone  by,  the  Church  was  a  greater  benefactor  of  the 
poor  than  she  is  to-day,  for  two  reasons  :  her  revenues 
were  comparatively  larger,  and  her  influence  was  much 
greater. 

Human  progress,  however,  is  little  dependent  upon 
charity,  which,  no  matter  how  profuse,  is  but  a  drop  in 
the  great  ocean  of  poverty  and  misery.  If  poverty  and 
all  the  evils  arising  therefrom  are  ever  abolished  in 
this  world,  it  can  only  be  by  the  free  exercise  of  un- 
fettered intellect  in  the  service  of  man,  which  in  time 
will  evolve  a  juster  and  better  social  organisation.  No 
amount  of  theological  disquisition  can  advance  this  good 
work,  but  may,  and  must,  retard  it  by  the  waste  of 
energy  so  employed,  and  in  many  other  ways  too 
numerous  and  recondite  to  specify. 

The  conflict  between  science  and  supernaturalism  has 
passed  through  many  phases  during  its  long  continuance; 
and  at  every  step  the  former  has  grown  in  strength, 
while  the  latter  has  declined.  More  and  more,  as  time 
goes  on,  men  come  to  recognise  that  Reason  is  their  only 
guide,  and  that  every  subject  of  thought  must  be  Con- 
trolled by  that  supreme  arbiter.  Man's  perception  of 
the  orderly  course  of  Nature,  as  disclosed  by  science, 
constitutes  the  most  certain  and  indisputable  of  all  facts  ; 
and  wherever  these  facts  come  into  conflict  with 
"  mysteries,"  interpreted  by  "  faith,"  it  is  only  a  question 
of  time  for  the  latter  to  lose  their  hold  over  the  public 
mind.  Belief  in  the  laws  of  Nature  is  imperative  in 
every  educated  person ;  and  disbelief  in  miraculous 
interference  with  those  laws  at  any  time,  or  in  any  part 
of  the  vast  universe,  is  an  absolute  necessity  of  every 
scientific  mind.  And  so  far  as  the  intellectual  are 
concerned,  the  time  has  indeed  arrived  when  "  Faith 
must  render  an  account  of  herself  to  Reason." 

The  late  Professor  Mivart  spent  a  large  part  of  his 
intellectual  life  in  the  service  of  Roman  Catholicism. 
Just  before  his  death,  a  few  months  ago,  he  recorded 
some  of  the  doubts  that  assailed  his  mind,  among  which 
occurs  this  significant  sentence :  "  The  energy  of  the 
universe,  as  disclosed  by  science,  differs  profoundly 
from  the  God  worshipped  by  Christians."     The  Church, 


244        Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


true  to  her  character,  refused  him  Christian  burial. 
Another  branch  of  the  Church  has  just  excommunicated 
one  of  the  foremost  of  living  writers,  Count  Tolstoy. 
The  Daily  Chronicle  says:  "It  reminds  us  of  so  many 
other  stages  of  Christian  history  from  the  very  earliest 
of  its  days." 

Christianity,  having  lost  her  power  to  coerce,  has 
developed  some  of  the  more  beneficent  elements  of  the 
religion,  and  as  these  are  more  in  evidence  now  than  the 
objectional  dogmas,  the  impression  prevails  that  the  old 
antagonism  has  died  out. 

There  is,  however,  ample  material  at  hand  to-day 
by  which  to  test  the  spirit  in  which  churches  of  all 
denominations  still  regard  the  advance  of  science.  The 
disintegrating  processes  of  time,  combined  with  the 
growth  of  knowledge  and  freedom,  have  altered  the 
character  of  the  contest ;  but  the  spirit  is  little  assuaged, 
while  foreboding  fear  of  impending  consequences  has 
been  added  to  it. 

Within  our  own  day  there  have  been  several  events  in 
the  Christian  churches  which  have  stirred  to  its  depth 
the  heart  of  all  Christendom  ;  and  evoked  declarations  on 
points  of  doctrine  and  dogmas  from  the  heads  of  re- 
ligious bodies,  as  well  as  from  laymen,  which  are  quite 
unprecedented  in  modern  times.  Notably,  the  (Ecu- 
menical Council,  held  at  the  Vatican  in  1870,  proclaiming 
the  infallibility  of  the  pope  ;  the  prosecution  of  Bishop 
Colenso  ;  the  publication  of  "  Essays  and  Reviews,"  and 
other  events. 

A  consideration  of  the  views  still  held  by  the  religious 
bodies,  which  were  called  forth  by  these  great  events  in 
the  Churches  of  England  and  Rome,  leaves  us  in  no 
doubt  as  to  the  continuance  of  that  domineering  and 
imperious  spirit  which  religion  has  ever  maintained 
against  science  and  freedom  of  thought  generally. 

The  Mother  Church  of  Rome  is  still  the  most  power- 
ful and  widespread  of  all  the  religious  organisations  in 
Christendom  ;  and  while  she  "neither  forgets  nor  learns," 
she  never  ceases  her  efforts  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
modern  thought ;  by  which  she  hopes  again  to  enslave 
the  mind  and  conscience,  and  regain  a  portion  of  her 


Modern  Christianity  245 

lost  power.  In  this  she  is  aided  directly  and  indirectly  by 
many  powerful  reactionary  forces,  which,  to  all  thought- 
ful minds,  are  much  in  evidence  to-day.  Her  large 
revenue,  collected  from  the  faithful  all  over  the  world, 
enables  her  to  maintain  an  army  of  skilled  diplomatists 
and  highly  educated  men,  who  mix  with  the  governing- 
classes  throughout  Europe  and  America  ;  and  are  ever 
vigilant  and  active  in  all  political  matters  in  which  the 
interests  of  their  Church  can  be  served.  With  great 
ability  she  spreads  her  network  so  as  to  embrace  all 
classes  of  the  community ;  and  each  class  is  appealed  to 
in  a  manner  best  calculated  to  effect  the  objects  of  the 
governing  power  at  Rome. 

The  history  of  this  "  mortal  enemy  of  human  liberty  " 
is  a  sad  satire  on  human  intelligence,  which  future  ages, 
emancipated  from  supernatural  thraldom,  will  look  back 
upon  with  wonder  and  astonishment.  Undeterred  by 
her  terrible  history,  and  with  an  unshaken  reliance  upon 
the  credulity  and  dark,  superstitious  side  of  our  nature, 
she  still  has  the  audacity  to  proclaim  herself  the  repre- 
sentative of  God  on  earth,  to  whom  has  been  committed 
the  welfare  of  man  here,  and  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell 
for  his  reward  or  punishment  hereafter. 

While  all  other  denominations  of  the  Christian  Church 
have  been  influenced  by  the  progress  of  science,  and  the 
altered  condition  of  the  public  mind  towards  religion 
arising  therefrom,  she  alone  has  remained  stationary; 
and  obstinately  maintains  her  right  to  control  modern 
society,  and  limit  the  natural  growth  and  development 
of  the  human  mind. 

Men  of  high  rank  and  great  wealth,  some  of  whom 
occupy  responsible  public  positions,  are  actively  engaged 
in  a  propaganda  which  has  for  its  object  the  reinstate- 
ment of  the  papal  power  in  Europe  and  America.  At 
the  head  of  this  movement  in  England,  as  is  well  known, 
is  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  Earl  Marshal,  and  late 
Postmaster-General. 

In  this  there  is  nothing  unusual  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  It  is  in  accordance  with  her  steadily- 
pursued  policy  to  regain  her  lost  supremacy,  and 
exercise,  as  of  old,  that  political  power  which  has  been 


246         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


so  baneful  to  human  liberty  and  welfare.  That  this  is 
entirely  a  political  move  with  that  object  in  view  all 
intelligent  people  know.  And  secure  in  this  knowledge, 
and  the  belief  that  the  volume  of  public  intelligence  is 
now  too  great  to  permit  Rome  ever  again  to  succeed  in 
her  designs,  they  remain  passive  spectators  of  her 
schemes,  forgetful  of  the  aphorism :  "  The  price  of 
liberty  is  eternal  vigilance." 

If  upward  social  progress  kept  steady  pace  with  increase 
of  knowledge,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  point  to  the  history 
of  this  "  scourge  of  man,"  and  rely  on  that  alone  to  un- 
mask the  purpose  of  the  present  pretended  religious 
movement.  But  experience  proves  that  while  the  leaders 
of  thought  may  be  steadily  increasing  the  sum  of  know- 
ledge, reactionary  forces  may  for  the  time  render 
nugatory  such  increase ;  and  even  throw  back  very 
considerably  social  progress  and  civilisation — indeed, 
submerge  it  for  centuries.     The  Dark  Ages,  to  wit. 

Knowledge  is  the  only  effective  weapon  with  which  to 
combat  the  powerful  and  widespread  Romish  organisa- 
tion. If  the  enlightenment  of  the  few  were  common 
property,  there  would  be  no  danger  to  our  liberties  from 
any  supernatural  organisation.  But  it  is  not,  and  herein 
lies  the  danger — a  danger  at  which  many  who  believe  in 
the  destiny  of  the  race  to  go  steadily  forward  will  laugh ; 
but  let  the  great  religious  body  once  again  bring  the 
political  powers  of  the  world  under  her  foot,  and  it  will 
be  no  laughing  matter  to  those  who  come  after  us. 

Reason  has  never  played  any  great  part  in  religion, 
which  is  almost  entirely  under  the  emotional  influences. 
Masses  of  people  are  easily  moved  by  sentiment.  The 
Church  of  Rome  knows  this,  and  uses  an  elaborate 
ritual,  specially  adapted  to  appeal  to  the  emotions.  St. 
Augustine  wrote  that  he  had  baptized  a  chief,  with  ten 
thousand  of  his  people.  Is  it  so  certain  that  the  infec- 
tion of  high  example  would  not  still  have  a  powerful 
influence  over  us  in  the  matter  of  religion  ? 

If  it  were  possible  for  the  King  and  Queen  to  be  con- 
verted to  Roman  Catholicism  in  our  day,  would  not  such 
exalted  example  have  an  immediate  and  far-reaching 
effect  among  all  classes  ?     The  contagion  of  sentiment  is 


Modem  Christianity  247 


well  known,  and  the  Romish  Church  is  a  persistent  and 
untiring  worker  in  such  fields. 

Moreover,  there  is  more  than  a  suspicion  that  the 
clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  are  deeply  infected 
with  Roman  Catholicism,  and  long,  many  of  them,  to 
return  to  that  ecclesiastical  organisation  which  has  played 
so  great  a  part  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  and  which 
they  hope  may  again  return  to  power,  and  dominate 
over  the  mind  and  conscience. 

Many  observant  people  believe  that  Rome  is  destined 
to  reabsorb  all  forms  of  dissent,  and  there  are  not 
wanting  signs  which  seem  to  justify  that  view.  Sacer- 
dotalism will  then  be  confronted  with  Rationalism  only  ; 
and  though  there  can  be  little  doubt  as  to  the  final 
triumph  of  the  latter,  an  enormous  amount  of  suffering 
may  have  to  be  endured  before  the  great  enemy  of  man 
is  again  laid  by  the  heels. 

Consider  the  pretensions  of  this  religion,  and  the 
declaration  of  its  head  :  "  We  are  no  mere  man— we  are 
God  on  earth."  Only  a  few  years  ago  an  GEcumenical 
Council  was  held,  which  reiterated  and  emphasised  this 
monstrous  claim  by  proclaiming  the  pope  infallible. 
It  is  notorious  matter  of  history  that  among  these 
same  men  who  claim  to  be  "  God  on  earth "  have  been 
some  of  the  most  abandoned  of  human  beings— men 
who  have  descended  to  the  very  lowest  depths  of 
infamy  ;  whose  lives  have  been  stained  with  every 
crime.  And  though  the  present  occupant  of  St.  Peter's 
chair  is  a  man  of  blameless  life,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  he  accepts  all  the  traditions  of  his  office;  and 
endorses  all  the  pretensions,  past  and  present,  appertaining 
thereto. 

A  recital  of  these  pretensions  is  enough  to  stagger  the 
man  whose  mind  is  at  all  tinctured  with  the  love  of 
liberty  and  the  spirit  of  inquiry.  He  may  repudiate 
with  indignation  such  insolent  pretensions  to  cripple  and 
control  the  activities  of  his  mind  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge.  But  let  brute  force  once  again  get  the 
ascendant,  and  he  will  be  as  powerless  to  strive  against 
it  as  were  the  great  thinkers  and  workers  of  old. 

Free  inquiry  is  the  enemy  of  all  reactionary  powers,  and 


248         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

instinctively  they  array  themselves  against  it.  These 
powers  are  numerous  and  militant  at  the  present  time  ; 
but  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  most  widespread, 
vigilant,  and  powerful  among  them ;  and  she  works 
now,  as  ever,  with  a  definite  aim — the  destruction  of  all 
liberty. 

The  pope  claims,  in  virtue  of  inspiration  from  God,  to 
be  infallible,  and  the  supreme  ruler  of  the  whole  world, 
political,  moral,  intellectual.  As  such  he  demands  the 
right  to  control  the  entire  course  of  human  life.  God 
has  given  him  a  book  of  instruction,  in  which  is  set  forth 
for  all  time  all  the  knowledge  of  Nature  which  he 
intended  should  be  made  known  to  man ;  as  well  as  a 
code  of  ethics  for  his  guidance  and  control  in  all  his 
human  and  superhuman  relations.  To  the  pope  alone, 
as  his  representative  on  earth,  he  has  given  the 
necessary  knowledge  for  the  right  interpretation  of  the 
message,  and  the  authority  to  enforce  it  on  all  men, 
under  the  most  awful  penalties  for  disobedience,  the 
award  of  which  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  pope. 

He  is,  therefore,  as  vice-God  on  earth,  the  supreme 
arbiter  of  human  destiny  ;  not  merely  to  the  end  of 
time,  but  for  all  eternity,  since,  according  to  the  message, 
man  is  an  eternal  being. 

Man  is  endowed  with  an  inquiring  nature,  and  a 
mental  capacity  for  research  into  the  mechanism  of  his 
surroundings  which  develops  and  grows  as  time  goes 
on  ;  enabling  him  to  progress  in  the  discovery  of  the 
constitution  of  the  mechanism,  and  the  laws  by  which 
it  is  worked  or  governed.  These  laws  of  Nature  he  has 
come  to  regard  as  the  most  certain  of  all  facts  of  human 
existence,  as  the  basis  upon  which  the  whole  fabric 
of  civilisation  rests,  and  by  which  his  daily  life  is 
regulated  and  controlled. 

The  message  contains  a  precise  exposition  of  the 
history  and  construct  ion  of  the  world,  which  is  to  be 
communicated  to  man  by  the  pope,  and  received  as 
truth  without  question  or  doubt.  Now,  science  records 
that,  as  man  with  his  penetrative  mind  has  from  time 
to  time  investigated  various  parts  of  Nature,  and  dis- 
covered the  laws  operating  therein,  he  has  found  that 


Modern  Christianity  249 

they  are,  one  and  all,  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
expositions  of  them  given  in  the  message — are,  in  fact, 
absolutely  contradictory  and  irreconcilable.  These  dis- 
coveries constitute  the  sum  of  science,  the  great  bulk  of 
human  knowledge,  and  distinguish  civilised  man  from 
the  savage.  To  ask  him  once  again,  as  of  old,  to  discard 
all  the  great  achievements  of  the  human  mind  in  favour 
of  the  pope's  message  and  its  consequences,  is  to  ask 
that  civilisation  may  be  again  submerged,  and  the  world 
revert  to  ignorance  and  barbarism.  No  intelligent  man 
of  unfettered  mind  in  the  exercise  of  his  sober  reason 
will  hesitate  between  the  two  alternatives. 

This  is,  in  effect,  what  the  Catholic  Church,  through 
her  popes,  cardinals,  and  bishops,  is  continually  insisting 
on.  She  declares  that  faith  is  superior  to  reason  ;  and 
that  in  every  case  in  which  reason  and  experience 
contradict  the  message  they  are  to  be  discarded  in 
favour  of  faith,  as  errors  inseparable  from  the  human 
mind. 

At  the  (Ecumenical  Council  held  at  the  Vatican  in 
1870,  the  pope,  with  seven  hundred  and  four  bishops  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  "  and  the  Holy  Ghost  sitting 
therein,  and  judging  with  us,"  had  under  consideration 
the  whole  subject  of  the  relation  of  religion  to  science ; 
and  formulated  the  results  of  their  deliberations  in  what 
is  known  as  "  The  Dogmatic  Constitution  of  the 
Catholic  Faith."  This  Constitution  deals  exhaustively 
with  all  forms  of  intellectual  inquiry  and  liberty  of 
thought  generally,  in  relation  to  religion  and  the  Bible 
message.  It  curses  all  "who  shall  say  that  human 
reason  is  in  such  wise  independent,  that  faith  cannot  be 
demanded  of  it  by  God,"  i.e.,  practically  by  the  pope. 
It  claims,  in  fact,  to  control  the  whole  course  of  social 
and  intellectual  activity,  and  to  forbid  every  kind  of 
study  except  that  which  the  Church  herself  sanctions. 
In  the  maintenance  of  its  opinions  and  furtherance  of 
its  objects  by  coercion,  the  Catholic  Church  declares 
that  "the  Inquisition  is  an  urgent  necessity  in  view  of 
the  unbelief  of  the  present  age." 

Intelligent  men  and   women,  secure  in   the  strength 
of  their  own  intellectual  condition  towards  such  claims, 


250         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

will  feel  inclined  to  treat  them  with  contemptuous 
indifference  ;  and  think  it  no  part  of  their  duty  as  social 
units  to  actively  interest  themselves  at  all  in  the  matter. 
Such  appears  to  be  the  attitude  of  the  thinking  part  of 
the  public  to-day  towards  all  religious  pretensions,  how- 
ever extravagant.  A  change  has  come  over  the  spirit 
of  controversy  ;  reactionary  forces  are  doing  their  work  ; 
and  since  the  days  of  Huxley,  theology  has  been  allowed 
to  labour  unopposed  in  that  large  and  prolific  field  of 
humanity  which  is  incapable  of  thinking  for  itself  on 
subjects  lying  outside  the  ordinary  course  of  daily 
routine. 

In  this  connection  we  might  call  to  mind  Galton's 
estimate  of  the  public  intelligence,  which  is  corroborated 
by  other  students  of  the  subject.  Only  one  in  four 
thousand  possesses  conspicuous  ability,  i.e.,  only  one  in 
four  thousand  of  the  whole  community  is  acquainted 
with  the  great  currents  of  thought  which  shape  the 
direction  of  the  social  forces,  and  able  to  think  for 
himself  and  form  correct  judgments  thereon;  while  the 
remaining  3999  are  more  or  less  passive  recipients,  and, 
to  that  extent,  indifferent  to  their  social  and  intellectual 
environment.  The  practical  concerns  of  daily  life  will, 
no  doubt,  lead  their  activities,  in  a  measure,  in  the  paths 
of  progress ;  but  their  natural  condition  of  intelligence 
will  render  them  more  amenable  to  reactionary  than  to 
progressive  influences.  And  in  proportion  as  the  former 
grow  in  strength  and  volume  will  the  latter  be  retarded, 
and  decline. 

From  these  and  other  considerations,  it  appears  to  be 
just  within  the  range  of  possibility  that  intellectual 
collapse  and  social  ruin  may  once  again  overtake 
civilisation,  and  our  posterity  have  to  lament  another 
period  of  dark  ages. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  attitude  of  the  Protestant 
division  of  the  Christian  Church  towards  science  and 
modern  thought  differs  very  materially  from  that  of  the 
Roman  Church.  And  no  doubt  this  is  so  ;  but  it  has 
been  necessitated  more  by  the  exigencies  of  her  position 
than  by  her  love  or  recognition  of  the  truths  of  science. 

Most  of  the  fundamental  dogmas  of  Christianity  are 


Modern  Christianity  251 

common  to  both  Churches  ;  as,  indeed,  they  are  to  all 
churches  embracing  the  Christian  faith.  And  the 
practical  unanimity  with  which  they  combat  and  oppose 
the  acceptance  and  spread  of  every  great  discovery  of 
natural  law  shows  the  kinship  by  which  they  are  all 
united.  The  reason  is  obvious.  They  all  take  their 
stand  on  the  Bible  message  ;  and  as  every  new  discovery 
more  and  more  falsifies  that  message,  when  interpreted 
in  plain  language,  such  as  we  use  in  all  other  meters, 
they  feel  that  the  progress  of  science  means  eventually 
the  dissolution  of  the  fabric  of  their  profession.  The 
feeling  is  now  very  widespread  that  the  friction  en- 
gendered by  progressive  thought,  even  more  than  by 
direct  falsification  by  fresh  discovery,  is  slowly  but  surely 
wearing  away  the  supernatural  character  of  the  Bible 
message. 

From  time  to  time  within  the  Church  of  England, 
some  member,  carried  away  by  the  spirit  and  enlighten- 
ment of  the  age,  breaks  away  from  the  traditions  of  his 
office ;  and  startles  the  religious  world  by  the  advocacy 
of  views,  chiefly  on  minor  points,  which  are,  in  their  way, 
as  great  a  revolt  against  established  orthodoxy  as  are 
the  most  direct  attacks  of  scientific  research  upon 
fundamental  doctrines  or  dogmas. 

And  if  we  take  the  views  held  by  independent 
Christian  preachers  who  are  still  members  of  the 
English  clergy,  we  shall  find  that  they  constitute  a  body 
of  teaching  which  assails,  directly  or  indirectly,  every 
important  article  of  the  Christian  faith.  One  preacher 
refuses  to  accept  articles  hitherto  looked  upon  as  essen- 
tial to  the  faith  in  its  entirety  ;  another  discards  other 
articles  from  his  belief  ;  and  so  on,  until  the  whole  thirty- 
nine  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  are  eliminated.  And 
yet  these  clergymen  belong  to  the  Church  of  England  ; 
and  preach,  many  of  them,  to  large  and  fashionable 
congregations. 

Many  will  remember  the  excitement  and  consterna- 
tion caused  by  Bishop  Colenso's  criticisms  of  certain 
parts  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  large  amount  of  dis- 
belief to  which  they  gave  rise,  even  in  the  Church. 
The  bold,  outspoken  expression  of  doubt,  and  ultimate 


252         Evoltitioit,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

rejection  of  the  divine  character  of  parts  of  the  message 
was,  in  its  way,  another  revolution  of  thought  in  the 
interests  of  rationalism.  It  helped  to  lift  the  oppressive 
weight  of  supernaturalism  from  many  a  thoughtful, 
doubting  mind,  which  otherwise  might  have  lain 
paralysed  under  the  load. 

The  bishop  spoke  with  an  authority  to  which  few  men 
in  the  Church  could  lay  claim.  To  ripe  scholarship  as 
a  churchman,  he  added  the  great  scientific  attainments 
of  a  mathematician,  whose  works  were  studied  in  the 
universities  and  colleges  ;  and  whose  name  as  a  teacher 
was,  therefore,  well  known  to  most  of  the  young  of  his 
generation.  By  these  he  was  looked  up  to  and  re- 
spected as  an  accurate  thinker ;  and  this  fact  gave  great 
additional  weight  to  his  authority  as  a  bishop,  when  he 
declared  that  he  could  no  longer  reconcile  faith  with 
reason ;  and  that,  in  consequence,  the  former  must 
give  way  to  the  latter.  View  this  incident  in  whatever 
light  we  may,  it  must  be  regarded,  together  with  its 
consequences,  as  another  solvent  in  the  edifice  of 
supernaturalism. 

As  an  object  lesson,  it  was  further  valuable  to  rational 
thought,  in  that  it  enabled  us  to  gauge  the  tolerance  and 
attitude  of  the  Church  of  England  towards  freedom  of 
inquiry  and  intellectual  advance.  The  bishop  was 
prosecuted  and  persecuted  to  the  full  extent  of  ecclesi- 
astical power,  and  no  efforts  were  spared  to  bring  him 
to  condign  punishment,  and  ruin  him  financially  as  well 
as  morally  in  public  estimation.  With  a  weaker  and 
less-known  man,  the  Church,  in  all  likelihood,  would 
have  succeeded  in  the  struggle ;  and  the  bishop  would 
have  been  a  ruined,  and  probably  a  disgraced,  man  in  the 
eyes  of  a  large  part  of  the  public. 

As  it  was,  his  life  was  made  a  burden  to  him.  It  is 
melancholy  to  reflect  upon  the  incessant  persecution  and 
personal  insult  that  this  great  and  good  man  had  to 
endure  at  the  hands  of  his  enemies ;  all  of  whom,  no 
doubt,  acted  in  good  faith,  and  according  to  their  light, 
in  the  interest  of  what  appeared  to  them  of  paramount 
importance.  So,  in  like  manner,  did  the  inquisitors  of 
old. 


Modern  Christianity  253 

The  judgment  of  the  Privy  Council  in  favour  of 
Colenso  was  denounced  by  the  Colonial  metropolitan, 
Bishop  Gray,  who  had  previously  excommunicated  him, 
as  "  a  masterpiece  of  Satan,"  and  "  the  great  dragon  of 
the  English  Church."  Bishop  Wilberforce  regretted 
"  the  devotion  of  the  English  people  to  the  law  in 
matters  of  this  sort."  John  Keble  "  lamented  that  the 
English  people  no  longer  believed  in  excommunication." 
Excommunication  was  threatened  against  every 
clergyman  and  layman  in  Natal  who  should  befriend  the 
bishop  ;  in  addition  to  which,  the  former  were  terrorised 
by  the  threat  that  they  would  be  deprived  of  their 
salaries,  and  themselves  and  families  brought  to  starva- 
tion, ruin,  and  disgrace.  "The  vicar-general  of  the 
Bishop  of  Capetown  met  Colenso  at  the  door  of  his  own 
cathedral,  and  solemnly  bade  him  'depart  from  the 
House  of  God,  as  one  who  has  been  handed  over  to  the 
Evil  One.'  The  sentence  of  excommunication  was  read 
before  the  assembled  faithful,  and  they  were  enjoined  to 
treat  their  bishop  as  '  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican.' " 

"  The  greatest  efforts  were  now  made  to  humiliate 
Colenso,  and  to  reduce  to  beggary  the  clergy  who 
remained  faithful  to  him.  .  .  .  But  the  zeal  of  the 
bishop's  enemies  did  not  end  with  calumny.  He  was 
socially  ostracised — more  completely  even  than  Lyell 
had  been  after  the  publication  of  his  '  Principles  of 
Geology,'  thirty  years  before.  Even  old  friends  left  him." 
Some  whom  he  had  befriended  under  like  circumstances 
turned  against  and  attacked  him.  "  A  large  part  of 
the  English  populace  was  led  to  regard  him  as  an 
'infidel,'  a  'traitor,'  an  'apostate/  and  even  as  an  'unclean 
being ' ;  servants  left  his  house  in  horror.  The  outcry 
was  deafening.  Churchmen  and  dissenters  rushed 
forward  to  attack  him."  * 

Here  and  there  an  eminent  churchman,  like  Dean 
Stanley  or  Bishop  Thirlwall,  tried  to  stem  the  tide  by 
counselling  moderation  ;  but  their  voices  were  lost  in 
the  roar  of  the  fierce  river  of  theological  hatred  which 
poured  forth  from  churches  of  all  denominations,  and 
ran  like  poison  through  the  healthy  streams  of  life.  All 
1  Dr.  A.  D.  White,  "Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology." 


254         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  power  of  the  Church  of  England,  exerted  through 
convocation,  and  her  innumerable  social  channels,  was 
brought  to  bear  against  a  man  of  blameless  character ; 
who  was  the  author  of  various  valuable  text-books  in 
mathematics,  and  had  been  a  highly  esteemed  master  of 
Harrow,  and  fellow  and  tutor  at  Cambridge,  because  he 
had  dared  to  be  guided  by  the  light  of  reason  in 
preference  to  the  darkness  of  faith. 

The  law  courts  re-instated  Colenso,  rendering  null  and 
void  the  condemnatory  decision  of  convocation,  and  the 
whole  body  of  theological  authority.  The  secular  power 
was  stronger  than  the  religious ;  and  once  again  light 
and  reason  triumphed  in  the  struggle  against  darkness 
and  faith. 

The  baneful  influence  of  theological  pretensions  receives 
a  remarkable  illustration  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  was  the  author  of  the  assertion  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  "  the  mortal  enemy  of  human  liberty," 
was  one  of  the  leaders  in  preparing  the  legal  pleas  of 
the  committee  against  Colenso. 

The  publication  of  "  Essays  and  Reviews "  a  short 
time  previously,  following  closely  on  Darwin's  discoveries, 
had  helped  to  broaden  and  liberalise  thought ;  and  no 
doubt  Colenso  drew  some  of  his  inspiration  and  support 
from  that  source,  when  he  decided  upon  publishing  his 
critical  examination  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of 
Joshua.  The  fermentation  in  the  religious  world,  occa- 
sioned by  that  event,  had  scarcely  subsided  when 
Colenso's  far  more  popular  and  destructive  criticism 
appeared.  He  dealt  with  definite  facts  and  figures, 
which  plain  people  could  understand  and  examine  for 
themselves ;  and  the  results  have  been  correspondingly 
permanent  and  valuable,  in  assisting  to  undermine  still 
further  the  great  citadel  of  formulated  dogmatic 
supernaturalism. 

The  writers  of  "  Essays  and  Reviews  "  also  dealt  with 
plain  matter-of-fact  subjects,  about  which,  however,  there 
had  been  controversy  from  time  to  time  ;  and  concerning 
which  many  able,  emancipated  writers  and  others  had 
come  to  definite  conclusions.  The  great  service  Colenso 
rendered  consisted   in   applying  the  plain   meaning  of 


Modern  Christianity  255 


languages  to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  The 
essayists,  on  the  contrary,  knowing  that  science  had 
established  such  a  position,  that  it  was  no  longer  useful 
but  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  Anglican  Church 
to  continue  insisting  on  a  literal  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  advocated  another  kind  of  interpretation,  and 
rejected  the  literal  plain  meaning  of  the  Bible  language. 

Dr.  Temple,  one  of  the  writers,  says  :  "  What  can  be  a 
grosser  superstition  than  the  theory  of  literal  inspiration  ? 
But  because  that  has  a  regular  footing,  it  is  to  be  treated 
as  a  good  man's  mistake,  while  the  courage  to  speak  the 
truth  about  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  a  wanton 
piece  of  wickedness." 

Modern  research,  no  less  than  the  plain,  evident 
truths  of  science,  had  rendered  untenable  the  theological 
positions  which  were  attacked  by  the  essayists  and  re- 
viewers ;  and  they  could,  therefore,  be  doing  their  Church 
no  greater  service  than  by  suggesting  and  advocating 
another  method  than  that  of  literal  interpretation.  If 
the  inspiration  was  not  literal,  then,  accordingly,  literal 
interpretation  was  not  incumbent  or  necessary  ;  and 
man  was  at  liberty  to  construe  the  account  of  creation 
given  in  Genesis,  for  example,  as  his  ingenuity  or  fancy 
might  dictate. 

The  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  had  become  so 
repugnant  to  the  conscience  that  hell  had  lost  its  hold 
over  men's  serious  thought,  and  was  fading  from  the 
mind  like  a  worn-out  myth.  The  Rev.  H.  B.  Wilson,  in 
his  essay,  took  the  view  that  "  the  ultimate  pardon  of 
the  wicked  who  are  condemned  in  the  Day  of  Judgment 
may  be  consistent  with  the  will  of  Almighty  God." 
This  was  taken  by  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  others 
as  tantamount  to  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment.  But  this  also,  it  will  be  seen,  was  but 
another  device  by  which  the  divine  character  of  the 
Bible  message  could  be  made  still  to  harmonise  with  the 
altered  condition  of  feeling  and  thought  on  the  subject 
of  eternal  punishment. 

These  writers  really  helped  to  give  a  new  lease  of  life 
to  a  decaying  edifice.  They  were  wise  in  their  way, 
though  their  wisdom  was  not  apparent  at  the  time  to 


256         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


those  who  were  chiefly  concerned,  and  in  whose  interests 
they  laboured.  A  storm  arose,  and  on  all  sides  demands 
were  made  for  the  prosecution  of  the  seven  essayists  and 
reviewers.  It  raged  with  particular  violence  in  the 
Convocation  of  Canterbury.  Archdeacon  Denison  in- 
sisted on  their  punishment,  "  for  the  sake  of  the  young, 
who  are  tainted  and  corrupted,  and  thrust  almost  to  hell 
by  the  action  of  this  book,"  declaring,  "  of  all  books  in 
any  language  which  I  ever  laid  my  hands  on,  this  is  in- 
comparably the  worst ;  it  contains  all  the  poison  which 
is  to  be  found  in  Tom  Paine's  '  Age  of  Reason,'  while  it 
has  the  additional  disadvantage  of  having  been  written 
by  clergymen." 

The  Church  authorities  deemed  it  wise  not  to  proceed 
against  them  ;  but  the  tumult  and  clamour  becoming  so 
great,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  and  another  clergyman 
were  put  forward  as  prosecutors  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Williams 
and  Rev.  H.  B.  Wilson.  Notwithstanding  the  clerical 
power  and  influence  brought  to  bear  upon  the  judges, 
which  disregarded  every  principle  of  law  and  justice, — 
Dr.  Pusey  wrote  a  series  of  letters  to  one  of  the  judges 
beseeching  him  to  convict  them,  if  only  on  the  ground 
of  expediency — the  prosecution  failed;  whereupon  the 
Convocation  of  Canterbury  passed  an  act  of  condemna- 
tion, which  was  as  futile  as  it  was  unwise,  since  it 
further  emphasised  in  the  public  mind  the  false  position 
in  which  the  Church  stood,  both  in  regard  to  the  law  of 
the  land  and  the  spirit  of  the  times,  which  was  averse  to 
prosecuting  men  for  writing  according  to  their  knowledge 
and  convictions,  even  on  religious  subjects. 

An  alliance  was  formed  between  High  and  Low 
Churchmen,  with  Dr.  Pusey  at  their  head;  and  within  a 
short  time  a  declaration  which  they  issued  dissenting 
from  the  judgment  was  signed  by  eleven  thousand 
clergymen,  and  by  a  deputation  representing  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  laymen,  who  waited 
on  the  archbishops  to  thank  them  for  dissenting  from 
the  judgment  of  acquittal.  Bishops  Tait  and  Thirlwall 
were  the  only  two  high  ecclesiastics  who  kept  their  heads 
amid  the  rage  and  confusion  which  reigned  all  around 
them.     Thirlwall  said   he  viewed  the  eleven  thousand 


Modern  Christianity  257 

names  headed  by  that  of  Dr.  Pusey  "  in  the  light  of  a 
row  of  figures  preceded  by  a  decimal  point,  so  that, 
however  far  the  series  may  be  advanced,  it  can  never  rise 
to  the  value  of  a  single  unit." 

Thirlwall  was  not  the  man  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
noise  around  him.  He  probably  took  a  just  estimate 
of  the  matter;  the  wisdom  of  which  is  now  felt  and 
acknowledged  by  the  Church,  at  the  head  of  which  is 
one  of  the  principal  offenders,  Dr.  Temple,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury. 

His  Grace  has  lived  to  see  some  of  the  fruits  of  his 
earlier  work,  and  to  reap  very  substantial  rewards.  It 
would  be  interesting,  as  well  as  instructive,  to  know  how 
far,  and  in  what  direction,  his  mind  has  moved  along  the 
groove  of  change  since  he  wrote  his  famous  essay.  Since 
then  some  great  and  important  discoveries  have  had 
time  to  do  their  work  in  the  public  mind,  and  alter  still 
further  the  complexion  of  the  theological  outlook.  The 
immediate  effect  of  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Temple  and  his  co- 
workers was  to  divert  the  attention  of  active  opponents 
of  Christianity  from  the  main  issues,  by  supplying  new 
views  of  old  subjects  of  controversy ;  and  in  this  channel 
much  of  the  defensive  literature  on  the  subject  has  since 
run  ;  while  many  of  the  active  opponents  have  subsided 
through  sheer  weariness  from  belabouring  what  they  look 
upon  as  a  dead  horse. 

"  Essays  and  Reviews  "  gave  currency  to,  if  they  did 
not  inaugurate,  a  new  method  of  warfare  for  the  Church ; 
and  she  no  longer  wasted  her  strength  in  defending  the 
old  positions.  Indeed,  it  was  not,  and  is  not,  necessary, 
owing  to  the  altered  state  of  the  public  mind,  and  the 
indifference  with  which  dogmatic  doctrines  which  were 
once  considered  of  vital  importance  are  now  regarded. 
To  what  extent  the  writings  in  question  may  have  assisted, 
in  conjunction  with  the  decaying  influences  of  time  in  all 
systemsof  supernaturalism,to  bring  about  the  indifference, 
we  cannot  say  ;  but  it  seems  only  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  when,  in  deference  to  the  growth  of  scepticism,  they 
advocated  the  recognition  of  human  error  in  the  Bible 
message,  they  were  preparing  the  way  for  the  secession 
of  large  masses  of  people  who,  possibly  for  many  years 


258  Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


to  come,  might  have  continued   to   receive  the  literal 
interpretation  without  question. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  view  of  the  popular  study  of 
science,  it  is  possible  that  those  dogmas  which  diametri-' 
cally  contradicted  what  the  people  had  come  to  regard 
as  incontrovertible  truths  had  seen  their  day  ;  and,  under 
any  circumstances,  were  bound  to  release  their  hold  over 
public  belief. 

While,  however,  the  Anglican  Church  no  longer  fights 
for  her  dogmas,  and  has  in  fact  no  opponents  with  whom 
to  fight,  both  having  by  common  consent  dropped  the 
subject,  she,  nevertheless,  pursues  a  course  which  is  as 
much  opposed  and  detrimental  to  progress  as  her  action 
in  the  past  was  to  liberty.  In  all  local  government 
bodies,  and  especially  on  school  boards,  the  clergyman 
is  to  be  found,  and  is,  in  most  cases,  a  reactionary  force 
to  be  reckoned  with.  Since  the  introduction  of  the 
Board  School  system  of  education,  it  is  well  known  that 
the  power  of  the  Church,  through  all  her  members,  clerical 
and  lay,  has  been  ranged  on  the  side  of  the  enemies  to 
education.  This  fact  is  notorious,  and  is  daily  in  evidence 
in  the  press,  and  at  meetings  of  various  kinds  throughout 
the  country. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  speaking  at  a  diocesan 
meeting  a  short  time  since,  said :  "  The  School  Board 
system  did  not  satisfy  the  Church,  and  until  the  children 
were  taught  religion  of  a  kind  which  the  Church  ap- 
proved, they  would  maintain  the  present  dual  system  of 
education." 

The  archbishop  is  a  moderate  man — so  moderate, 
indeed,  that  in  earlier  days  he  was  stigmatised  by  his 
brethren  and  others  as  an  "  infidel,"  an  "  atheist,"  and 
the  countenancer  of  Tom  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason."  The 
moderate  tone  of  his  language  in  condemnation  of  Board 
School  education,  therefore,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a 
sample  of  that  which  is  daily  poured  forth  by  clergymen 
of  most  denominations.  The  morning  papers  supply 
them  in  abundance ;  the  keynote  is  regard  for  the  rate- 
payer's interests.  In  consequence,  all  who  recognise  the 
pressing  necessity  for  vital  energy  in  matters  of  educa- 
tion are  compelled  to  regard  the  Church  and  its  members 


Modern  Christianity  259 

as  enemies  to  the  cause,  and  range  themselves  accord- 
ingly in  the  opposite  camp. 

The  bishops,  as  a  body,  appear  to  have  quietly 
accepted  the  inevitable,  and  are  not  very  prominent 
now.  Their  social  influence  and  sympathies  are  with  the 
rich ;  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  contrary,  they  are  un- 
acquainted with  the  great  currents  of  modern  thought ; 
and  take  little  or  no  interest  in  the  labour  and  other 
popular  movements,  except  feebly  to  oppose  them.  They 
live  in  an  atmosphere  of  their  own  ;  in  the  modern  world 
they  have  no  place,  so  far  as  its  busy,  material,  or  moral 
life  is  concerned.  Their  impress  on  the  public  mind  is 
rather  that  of  vague  curiosity  than  living  interest-echoes, 
as  it  were,  of  the  dead  past,  fossilised  remains  of  the 
early  fathers. 

The  Rev.  H.  Handley,  vicar  of  St.  Thomas's,  Camden 
Town,  in  his  book,  "  The  Fatal  Opulence  of  Bishops," 
thinks  the  falling  away  of  the  working  classes  from 
Christianity  is  mainly  due  to  the  aloofness  and  wealthy 
pomp  and  state  in  which  bishops  live.  They  take  no 
interest  in  the  life  of  the  masses,  and  the  latter  have  in 
consequence  come  to  look  upon  the  Church  as  "  nothing 
to  do  with  them."  Sir  Edward  Clarke  asked  at  the 
Church  Congress :  "  How  was  it  that  they  had  to  face 
the  fact  that  .  .  .  the  greater  number  by  far  of  the  hard- 
working toilers  of  the  land  never  entered  a  temple  of 
Christian  worship  ?  "  Says  Mr.  Handley  :  "  Among 
almost  the  whole  working  class  of  the  country  public 
worship  in  church  has  been  seen  to  be  falling  into 
desuetude.  Of  this  religious  decline  episcopal  opulence 
has  been  shown  to  be  a  tributary  cause."  The  Bishop 
of  London  appears  to  share  these  views. 

Whatever  may  be  the  shortcomings  of  the  bishops, 
not  many  intelligent  observers  will,  we  think,  endorse 
Mr.  Handley's  explanation  of  the  decline  of  Christianity 
among  the  working  classes.  The  bishops  are  but  a  part, 
and,  so  far  as  the  decline  of  Christianity  among  all 
classes  is  concerned,  only  a  very  small  part  of  that  great 
organisation  of  human  belief,  which,  in  accordance  with 
the  law  of  progress  in  all  things,  is  passing  out  of  the 
life  of  man. 


260         Evolution^  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

The  operation  of  the  law  of  growth  and  decay  is  seen 
here,  as  elsewhere ;  and  bishops  cannot,  any  more  than 
any  other  part  of  the  organic  whole,  escape  the  fiat  of 
Nature.  But  being,  as  heads  of  the  Church,  the  most 
conspicuous  objects,  they  attract  the  greatest  amount  of 
notice ;  and  thereby  emphasise  in  public  view  the  decay 
that  is  going  on.  One  of  the  greatest  writers  of  this 
age  makes  a  character  in  one  of  his  books,  the  window 
of  whose  lodging  commands  a  view  of  the  crumbling 
walls  of  a  Christian  place  of  worship,  look  out  on  "  four 
centuries  of  gloom,  bigotry,  and  decay." 

The  late  Lord  Beaconsfield  said  "  the  spirit  of  the  age 
was  sometimes  to  be  resisted."  We  may  resist  it,  as 
we  may  the  avalanche,  but  it  will  sweep  us  away. 

The  opposition  which  clergymen,  as  a  whole,  are 
offering  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  the  spread  of  educa- 
tion and  enlightenment,  has  another  side  than  that  of 
the  speculative  or  the  ethical.  It  has  an  immediate  and 
very  practical  bearing  upon  our  national  interests.  Men 
of  responsible  position,  who  have  studied  the  subject, 
and  speak  with  all  the  weight  of  authority,  tell  us  that 
one  of  the  main  factors  in  the  decline  of  our  industries, 
which  the  papers  daily  announce,  is  that  we  are  falling 
behind  other  nations  in  the  matter  of  education. 

The  nation  has  not  yet  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  old 
order  is  passing  away,  and  we  are  entering  upon  the 
new,  in  which  clergymen,  by  tradition,  temperament,  and 
education,  are  unfitted  to  be  the  instructors  of  youth. 
The  clerical  influence,  while  brought  to  bear  against  the 
education  of  the  humbler  classes,  still  dominates  the 
middle  and  high-class  schools  and  colleges ;  and  instruc- 
tion in  religion  and  theology  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
important  functions  of  the  educational  staff.  The  dead 
past  is,  indeed,  in  a  very  material  sense,  a  living  factor 
among  us,  and  holds  us  in  its  clutches. 

New  methods  of  utilising  the  forces  of  Nature  are 
transforming  the  industries  of  the  world;  and  the  clergy- 
man, who  has  not  yet  been  brought  even  to  recognise 
these  forces,  is  about  the  last  man  to  whom  should  be 
entrusted  the  instruction  and  equipment  of  the  rising 
generation,  who  will  have  to  compete  against  the  better 


Modern  Christianity  261 

taught  of  other  countries.  These  facts  have  for  some 
time  appealed  to  the  British  mind ;  they  will  soon 
appeal  to  the  pocket,  in  which  place,  our  enemies  say, 
the  former  chiefly  resides. 

To  continue  wasting  the  intellectual  energies  of  youth, 
by  teaching  a  system  of  theology  which  the  thoughtful 
of  all  classes  have  come  to  recognise  as  erroneous,  and 
useless  for  all  purposes,  is  to  put  ourselves  out  of  touch 
with  modern  requirements.  Old  and  worn-out  methods 
and  systems  in  other  departments  of  life,  however  useful 
they  may  have  been  in  their  day,  we  eliminate  in  favour 
of  newer  and  better  methods.  It  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand what  useful  purpose  can  be  served  by  teaching 
that  which  no  longer  has  any  practical  bearing  on  our 
lives,  moral  or  material  ;  and  which  can  only  hamper 
us  in  the  struggle  that  is  now  going  on  between 
nations  for  supremacy  in  the  various  fields  of  industrial 
enterprise. 

As  time  goes  on,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  character 
of  the  struggle  may  alter  from  one  of  supremacy  to  that 
of  bare  existence ;  and  the  hard  facts  of  necessity  will 
compel  us  to  recognise  the  unwisdom  of  permitting  an 
enormously  wealthy  and  numerous  body  to  use  a  large 
part  of  the  national  resources  in  frittering  away 
youthful  energy,  by  teaching  that  which  even  they 
themselves,  many  of  them,  feel  to  have  no  foundation 
in  truth. 

The  working  classes  have  fallen  away  from  Christianity ; 
so  also  have  the  upper  and  intellectual  classes ;  and 
church  attendants  now  are  mostly  of  the  middle  classes. 
The  lament  of  empty  churches  is  heard  on  all  sides ; 
and  no  inducements  that  they  can  hold  out  appear  to 
have  any  effect  in  helping  to  bring  back  the  people. 
To  ascribe  this  state  of  things  to  the  bishop's  wealth  and 
pomp,  or  to  the  clergyman's  social  pretensions,  is  to  form 
a  very  inadequate  estimate  of  the  whole  subject. 

The  Anglican  Church  has  lost  her  most  effective 
weapon.  The  fear  of  eternal  punishment  may  have 
exercised  in  times  gone  by  a  deterrent  effect,  and  helped 
to  keep  men  in  the  paths  of  rectitude  ;  but  the  shock 
the  idea  of  hell  has  given    to  the  modern  conscience, 


262         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 

the  growth  of  intelligence  consequent  on  the  spread  of 
knowledge,  the  ever-increasing  volume  of  life's  interests, 
and  a  variety  of  other  causes,  have  obliterated  the  fear  of 
hell  from  the  mind  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  now  exercises 
much  influence  over  men's  conduct.  With  the  loss  of 
this,  the  Church  is  bereft  of  her  greatest,  if  not,  indeed, 
her  only  power. 

Some  will  say  religion  must  be  taught  for  the  sake  of 
its  moral  influence,  even  though  every  dogma  be  found  to 
be  untenable.  This  feeling  is  deep  and  widespread,  but 
it  is  also  very  vague  and  indefinite  ;  few  ask  themselves, 
or  know  precisely,  what  they  mean  by  the  term  religion. 
The  conception  entertained  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer 
and  others  appears  to  consist  of  all  the  feeling  and 
thought  of  man  about  his  relation  to  the  Unknown 
Power.  So  that,  however  much  he  may  learn  of  the 
laws  of  Nature,  inasmuch  as  he  can  never  reach 
finality  and  know  the  grand  secret,  religion  in  this 
respect  is  a  permanent  element  in  human  nature,  and 
must  ever  remain  so. 

But  this  is  not  what  Christianity,  or  any  other  creed, 
teaches,  or  means  by  religion.  Authorised  formularies 
of  doctrine,  consisting  of  thirty-nine  articles,  constitute 
the  religion  current  among  us;  these  articles  are  all 
strictly  and  precisely  defined,  and  are  modified  from 
time  to  time  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  growth  of 
knowledge.  The  mysteries  they  contain  consist  chiefly 
of  human  elements,  introduced  apparently  for  the 
purpose  of  contradicting  human  reason.  That  three  are 
one  and  one  three,  is  made  up  of  human  characters, 
put  together  in  a  manner  to  contradict  reason  and 
experience.  Anyone  is  at  liberty  to  accept  it  and  to 
call  it  a  "  mystery,"  but  in  so  doing  he  must  discard 
reason,  and  rely  on  what  is  called  faith.  The  common 
sense  of  mankind,  however,  will  eventually  decide 
the  question  between  the  two,  bolster  it  up  as  we 
may. 

Evolution,  the  conservation  and  correlation  of  force, 
and  other  discoveries  of  recent  times,  have  enlarged  the 
boundaries  of  knowledge,  and  brought  a  great  accession 
of  light  to  the  mind.     We  learn  from  these  all-embracing 


Modern  Christianity  263 


laws  that  nothing  is  permanent,  everything  is  in  a  state 
of  flux,  mental  and  material ;  and  that  every  form  of 
existence  runs  through  a  course  of  formation  and 
dissolution,  growth  and  decay,  life  and  death.  With 
every  increase  to  the  stock  of  human  knowledge  comes 
a  corresponding  change  in  the  thought  and  outlook 
on  our  environment,  necessitating  a  like  readjustment. 
These  are  the  disintegrating  elements  in  every  religious 
creed,  and  can  never  be  eliminated. 

Every  explanation  which  man  formulates  in  precise 
terms  of  his  relation  to  God  will  in  time  die  ;  every  god 
he  makes,  he  will  in  due  course  unmake  ;  God  is  incon- 
ceivable. As  we  cannot  transcend  the  finite,  or  penetrate 
to  the  substance  of  visible  things,  the  Infinite  is,  and 
must  ever  be,  beyond  the  power  of  human  thought. 
The  subjective  tendency  of  mind  may  contain  a  verity 
surviving  this  life,  and  extending  beyond,  into  that 
"  behind  the  veil "  of  Tennyson  ;  but  no  certain  know- 
ledge that  we  possess  will  enable  us  to  say  one  way  or 
the  other.     It  is  not  given  to  man  to  know. 

The  everlasting  problems,  "  What  are  we  ?  Whence 
came  we  ?  Whither  are  we  going  ?  "  still  confront  us, 
and  the  solemn  mystery  is  as  impenetrable  as  ever.  The 
future  may  be  to  us  as  dark  as  the  past,  and  life  a  pur- 
poseless phase  in  the  growth  and  decay  of  the  world  ; 
as  the  latter  seems  to  be  a  purposeless  necessity  in  the 
wider  sphere  of  universal  being.  Eternal  darkness 
enwraps  us  in  the  past,  and  may  engulf  us  again, 
when  our  brief  and  unquiet  day  is  ended.  Such  appears 
to  be  the  teaching  alike  of  profoundest  thought,  and  the 
greatest  and  most  far-reaching  laws  that  have  yet  illu- 
mined the  human  mind. 

Notwithstanding,  we  need  have  no  fear  that  religion, 
in  its  highest  and  best  sense,  will  die.  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer's  view  will  live  for  ever — as  long,  at  least,  as  man 
is  a  tenant  of  this  planet.  The  Infinite  will  never  fail  to 
form  the  subject  of  his  highest  and  most  reverent 
thoughts  and  aspirations.  The  indefinite  vastness  of  space 
and  time ;  the  awful  majesty  of  the  universe,  with  its 
unnumbered  worlds;  the  impersonal  character  of  all  we 


264         Evolution,  and  its  Bearing  on  Religions 


see  and  know  of  Nature;  the  solemn  tragedy  and 
mystery  of  life:  these  and  like  subjects  will  never  cease 
to  engage  the  highest  faculties  of  the  best  and  noblest 
minds  for  all  time. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


Abraham,  135 

Age  of  the  Earth,  9 

Alexander  the  Great,  157,  158 

Alexandria,  158-61, 163  ;  at  time 
of  Hypatia,  219,  220 

Amoeba,  46 

Ancient  Evolutionary  Thought, 
9-16 

"  Annihilation  "    and    '*  Extinc- 
tion," 15 

Anthropoid  Apes,  57-68 

Apes  and  Man,  57-68 

Apis,  132 

Apollonius,  167 

Arabian  Civilisation,  230-2 
„        Science,  171 

Archimedes,  163-5 

Aristillus,  166 

Aristotle,  12-14,  98,  130,  157 
„         quoted,  240 

Arius,  205,  206,  210 

Athanasius,  St.,  206,  207 

Atoms,  9,  10 

Augustine,  St.,  222,  225,  246 

Australians,  Native,  125 

Averroes,  235 

Babylonian  Astronomy,  154 

„  Religion,  129 

Baer,  K.  E.  von,  72,  73 
Baker,  Sir  Samuel,  123 
Bastian,  Dr.  H.  C,  41 
Beaconsfield,  Lord,  260 
Blood-sacrifice,  136 
Brahma,  131 
Buddhism,  147*5° 
Byzantium,  200 

Callisthenes,  153 
Calvin,  240 
Carpenter,  Dr.,  106 
Cedrenus,  200 


Cell,  The,  42,  46,  73 
Cellular  Theory,  42,  43 
Christianity  :    its    influence    in 
Europe,  232-3 
„  Modern,  238-64 

„  Rise  of,  181-96 

Cicero,  14 

Clarke,  Sir  Edward,  259 
Clement  IV.,  Pope,  234 
Cleomedes,  167 
Colenso,  Bishop,  251-5 
Constantine  the  Great,  197-208 
Constantius,  207,  211 
Copernicus,  168,  236 
Council  of  Nicasa,  206,  210 
Craniology  of  Apes  and  Man, 

62,  63,  65 
Crusades,  The,  228 
Cuvier,  25,  30,  53,  54,  56 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,  219,  220 

Damasus,  St.,  209 
Darwin,  Charles,  35,  36,  86-99 
„     Origin  of  Species,  12,  13, 

44 
„     quoted,  41,  42 
Death,  124 

„       Merely    a    Change    of 

Form,  10 
,.       (Universal)  impossible, 
22 
Deluge,  The,  135 
Democritus,  9-12 
Denison,  Archdeacon,  256 
Donatists,  The,  204 
Draper,  J.   W.,  150,   154,  155, 
157,   161,  ,170,   201, 
204 
„        Science  and  Religion, 

12,  13,  15 
„        quoted,  115,  219,  220, 
230,  240,  241 


265 


266 


Index 


Dreams,  134 

Eden,  Garden  of,  121 
Egypt,    Early    Civilisation    of, 
151-5 
„        Worship  in,  12 1-4,  128, 
130,  135 
Eliot,  George,  114 
Embryology,  72-85 
Emerson  (quoted),  211 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  11,25 
Epigenesis,  24,  25 
Eratosthenes,  166 
Essays  and  Reviews,  254,  255, 

257 
Eternal  Punishment,  255 
Euclid,  162,  163 
Evolution   not  a  Modern  Dis- 
covery, 9 
„  of  Religious  Ideas, 

115-38 

Fear,  119 

Force,  there  can  be  no  new,  10 

„     Persistence  of,  46,  47, 148 
Frederick  II.  of  Germany,  234, 

235 

Galileo,  236 

Galton,  F.  (quoted),  67 

Gardner,  Rev.  J.  (quoted),  131 

Geminus,  167 

Geoffrey  de  St.  Hilaire,  30 

George  of  Cappadocia,  211 

Gibbon,  185,  186,  200,  211 

„        (quoted),  219-21,  223 
Gladstone,  W.  E.,  254 
Goethe,  30,31,  33 
Gotama,  T47-50 
Gray,  Bishop,  253 
Greek  Civilisation,  Early,  151 
Gregory  the  Great,  222 

„        VII.,  227 

»        IX.,  234 

„       XL,  234 
Grote  (quoted),  137 
Grove,  Sir  William  (quoted),  101 
Growth,  The  Law  of,  48-50 


Haeckel,  E.,  25,  26 

„        Address  at  Cambridge, 

64,65 
„        Evolution  of  Man,  14, 

26,  35,  44,  47,  56, 
57,  80 

„        History   of   Creation, 

27,  3i,  32 

„        Riddle  of  the  Universe, 
109 
Haller,  103 

Handley,  Rev.  H.,  259 
Hebrew  Mythology,  134-8 
Hero-worship,  128,  129 
Herodotus,  152,  153 
Herschel,  17 
Hinton,  James,  48,  49 
Hipparchus,  166,  167 
Holy  Ghost,  129,  131,  249 
Homer,  153 
Hope,  119 
Horus,  130,  131 
Hume,  David  (quoted),  112 
Huxley,  Maris  Place  in  Nature, 

44,  58,  65 
Hypatia,  219 

Immortality,  13-15,  11 1-4 
Incense-burning,  126,  127 
Incubi  and  Succubi,  129 
Innocent  III.,  234 
Inorganic  Formation,  17-23 
Isis,  130,  131 

Jacob,  135,  136 
Jahveh,  135 
Japanese,  The,  125 
Jesus,  139-46 
Julian,  Emperor,  21 1-6 

Kant,  Immanuel,  17-19 

„      (quoted),  36 
Keble,  John,  253 
Kelvin,  Lord,  21 
Kepler,  236 

Laplace,  17 

Lamarck,  J.,  25-7,  29,  30 
Lecky,  W.  E.  H.  (quoted),  218 
Lecocq,  35 


Index 


267 


Lewes,  G.  H.,  19 

Life  merely  a  Change  of  Form, 

10 
Livingstone,  Dr.  (quoted),  127 
Lubbock,  Sir  John,  68,  122 
Luther,  Martin,  226,  236,  238-40 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  54,  253 

M'Kim,  D.  (quoted),  108 

Malthus,  89 

Manu,  135 

Medicine-man,  the,  125,  134 

Miller,  Hugh,  237 

Milman,    Dean    (quoted),    145, 

181,  186,  211,  213 
Mind,  The  Human,  34 
"  Missing  Link,"  The,  43,  44,  69 
Mivart,  Professor,  243,  244 
Monera,  11,  28,  40 
Moses,  135-7 
Myers,  F.  W.  H.,  103 

Natural  Selection,  88,  89 
Naudin,  35 

Nebular  Hypothesis,  22 
Nero,  Emperor,  184 
Nicene  Creed,  206 
Nirvana,  149 
Nucleus  of  Cell,  76 

Oken,  33 

Oilier,  Edm.  (quoted),  152,  153 

Ontogenesis,  73 

Organic  Formation,  24-50 

"  Organisms  without   Organs," 

40 
Orion,  Belt  of,  20 
Osiris,  130 
Owen,  Robert  (quoted),  223 

Paine,  Tom,  256,  258 
Palaeontology,  51-71 
Pander,  72,  73 
Parthenogenesis,  79 
Paul,  St.,  185-7 

Pearson,  Karl,  86  (quoted),  117 
Peasant  Revolt  of  1372,  230 
Persian  Mythology,  130 
Peter  the  Hermit,  228 
Phylogenesis,  76 


Pliny,  186 

Pre  -  Christian        Civilisation, 

147-72 
Prophecies,  137 
Protista,  46 
Protoplasm,  38, 39 
Psammetichus,  154 
Ptolemy,  154,  158,  168,  169 
Pusey,  Dr.,  256 
Pyramids  of  Egypt,  154,  155 

Reformation,  The,  236,  237 
Renaissance,  The,  234 
Renan,  E.,  139,  140 
Rhadamanthus,  137 
Rhys-Davids,   T.  W.  (quoted), 

150 
Riddle,  "History  of  Papacy," 

(quoted),  209 
Romanes,  Professor,  94 

(quoted),   57,   73,  76, 

79,  80,  85,  95 
Roman  Catholicism,  238  sqq. 
Rome,  Decadence  of,  173-80 
Rudimentary  Organs,  83-5 

Schleiden,  42 

Schmidt,  Oscar,  88,  90 

Schwann,  42 

Seneca,  186 

Serapis,  132 

Serpent-worship,  127,  128 

Servetus,  240 

Shiva,  131 

Sleep,  124 

Solomon,  135 

Soul,  The,  12,  14,  100-14;  see 

also  Immortality 
Spain,     Mohammedanism     in, 

231-3 
Spencer,  Herbert,  22,  89,  90,  262 
„         (quoted),  123,  126,  128, 

133,  137,  138 
Spirits  of  the  Dead,  135, 126,  134 
Spontaneous  Generation,  28,  37, 

38 
Stages  of  Organic  Life,  69 
Stanley,  Dean,  253 
Strauss,  D.  F.,  139,  140 
"Survival  of  the  Fittest,"  90  sqq. 


268 


Index 


Tacitus,  179 

Tait,  Bishop,  256 

Temple,  Dr.  (quoted),  255,  257, 

258 
Thebes,  130,  153 
Thirlwall,  Bishop,  253,  256,  257 
Timocharis,  166 
Tolstoy,  Count,  244 
Treviranus,  G.  R.,  32,  33 
Trinity,  The,  130,  131,  205,  206 
Taylor,  Dr.  E.  B.,  120 

Ursinus,  209 
Vanini,  240 


Vestiges  of  the  Natural  History 

of  Creation ,  9 
Virgin  Mary,  The,  129 
Vishnu,  131,  135 
Volney,  Ruins,  122 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  86 
White,  Rev.  A.  D.  (quoted),  253 
Wilberforce,  Bishop,  253 
Williams,  Rev.  Dr.,  256 
Wilson,  Rev.  H.  B.,  255,  256 
Wolff,  C.  Fr.,  24,  25 

Xenophanes  of  Colophon,  53 

Zeno,  14,  15,  148 


Pointed  by  Cowan  &*  Co.   Limited,  Perth, 


